Search for low-scale gravity signatures in multi-jet final states with the ATLAS detector at \(\sqrt{s}\) = 8 TeV

Abstract

We search for evidence of physics beyond the Standard Model in the production of final states with multiple high transverse momentum jets, using 20.3 \(fb^{-1}\) of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at \(\sqrt{s}\) = 8 TeV. No excess of events beyond Standard Model expectations is observed, and upper limits on the visible cross-section for non-Standard Model production of multi-jet final states are set. Using a wide variety of models for black hole and string ball production and decay, the limit on the cross-section times acceptance is as low as 0.16 fb at the 95% CL for a minimum scalar sum of jet transverse momentum in the event of about \(4.3\) TeV. Using models for black hole and string ball production and decay, exclusion contours are determined as a function of the production mass threshold and the gravity scale. These limits can be interpreted in terms of lower-mass limits on black hole and string ball production that range from \(4.6\) to \(6.2\) TeV.