Search for contact interactions using the inclusive jet pT spectrum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

TL;DR

This paper searches for deviations in jet production cross sections at 7 TeV proton-proton collisions, setting limits on contact interaction scales and finding no evidence of new physics beyond the Standard Model.

Contribution

It provides the first limits on contact interactions using the inclusive jet pT spectrum at 7 TeV with 5.0 fb^{-1} of data, employing both CLs and Bayesian methods.

Findings

No deviation from perturbative QCD observed.

Lower limits on contact interaction scale: 9.9 TeV (destructive interference) and 14.3 TeV (constructive interference).

Results constrain possible new physics at high energy scales.

Abstract

Results are reported of a search for a deviation in the jet production cross section from the prediction of perturbative quantum chromodynamics at next-to-leading order. The search is conducted using a 7 TeV proton-proton data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 inverse femtobarns, collected with the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at the Large Hadron Collider. A deviation could arise from interactions characterized by a mass scale Lambda too high to be probed directly at the LHC. Such phenomena can be modeled as contact interactions. No evidence of a deviation is found. Using the CLs criterion, lower limits are set on Lambda of 9.9 TeV and 14.3 TeV at 95% confidence level for models with destructive and constructive interference, respectively. Limits obtained with a Bayesian method are also reported.