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CMS-PAS-B2G-20-013
Search for heavy resonances and nonresonant axion-like particles in semileptonic ZZ, ZW, or ZH final states at $\sqrt{s}= $ 13 TeV
Abstract: A search has been performed for heavy resonances and nonresonant axion-like particles (ALPs) in semileptonic ZZ, ZW, or ZH final states, with two charged leptons (electrons or muons) produced by the decay of a Z boson, and two quarks produced by the decay of a Z, W, or H boson. The analysis is sensitive to resonances with masses in the range from 450 to 1800 GeV decaying into ZZ or ZW. A search for the effects of nonresonant ALP-mediated ZZ or ZH production is included. Two categories are defined based on the merged or resolved reconstruction of the hadronically decaying boson. The search is based on data collected during 2016 to 2018 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in proton-proton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. No excess is observed in the data above the standard model background expectation. Upper limits on the production cross section of heavy, narrow spin-1 and spin-2 resonances are derived as a function of the resonance mass, and exclusion limits on the production of W' bosons and bulk graviton particles are calculated in the framework of the heavy vector triplet model and warped extra dimensions, respectively. In addition, upper limits on the ALP-mediated diboson production cross section and ALP couplings to standard model particles are obtained in the framework of linear and chiral effective field theories.
Figures & Tables Summary References CMS Publications
Figures

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Figure 1:
Feynman diagrams for the processes $\mathrm{g} \mathrm{g} \to \mathrm{Z} \mathrm{Z} $ (left) and $\mathrm{g} \mathrm{g} \to \mathrm{Z} \mathrm{H} $ (right) via an off-shell ALP a* in the $s$ channel.

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Figure 1-a:
Feynman diagrams for the processes $\mathrm{g} \mathrm{g} \to \mathrm{Z} \mathrm{Z} $ (left) and $\mathrm{g} \mathrm{g} \to \mathrm{Z} \mathrm{H} $ (right) via an off-shell ALP a* in the $s$ channel.

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Figure 1-b:
Feynman diagrams for the processes $\mathrm{g} \mathrm{g} \to \mathrm{Z} \mathrm{Z} $ (left) and $\mathrm{g} \mathrm{g} \to \mathrm{Z} \mathrm{H} $ (right) via an off-shell ALP a* in the $s$ channel.

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Figure 2:
Distributions of ${\tau _{21}}$ and ${p_{\mathrm {T}}}$ (${{\mathrm {J}}}$) (after applying the ${\tau _{21}}$ selection) for boosted hadronic V (top) and H candidates (bottom). The gray band shows the statistical and systematic uncertainties on the background. The background for the ${\tau _{21}}$ distributions is normalized to the number of events in the data; the background normalization for the ${p_{\mathrm {T}}}$ (${{\mathrm {J}}}$) distributions is derived from the final fit to the data. The red dashed histograms correspond to a hypothetical linear (chiral) ALP with 1 TeV$ ^{-1}$ couplings to gluons and $\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{Z} $ (ZH), and $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV; the cross sections have been scaled, as shown in the legend, for better visibility. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 2-a:
Distributions of ${\tau _{21}}$ and ${p_{\mathrm {T}}}$ (${{\mathrm {J}}}$) (after applying the ${\tau _{21}}$ selection) for boosted hadronic V (top) and H candidates (bottom). The gray band shows the statistical and systematic uncertainties on the background. The background for the ${\tau _{21}}$ distributions is normalized to the number of events in the data; the background normalization for the ${p_{\mathrm {T}}}$ (${{\mathrm {J}}}$) distributions is derived from the final fit to the data. The red dashed histograms correspond to a hypothetical linear (chiral) ALP with 1 TeV$ ^{-1}$ couplings to gluons and $\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{Z} $ (ZH), and $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV; the cross sections have been scaled, as shown in the legend, for better visibility. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 2-b:
Distributions of ${\tau _{21}}$ and ${p_{\mathrm {T}}}$ (${{\mathrm {J}}}$) (after applying the ${\tau _{21}}$ selection) for boosted hadronic V (top) and H candidates (bottom). The gray band shows the statistical and systematic uncertainties on the background. The background for the ${\tau _{21}}$ distributions is normalized to the number of events in the data; the background normalization for the ${p_{\mathrm {T}}}$ (${{\mathrm {J}}}$) distributions is derived from the final fit to the data. The red dashed histograms correspond to a hypothetical linear (chiral) ALP with 1 TeV$ ^{-1}$ couplings to gluons and $\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{Z} $ (ZH), and $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV; the cross sections have been scaled, as shown in the legend, for better visibility. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 2-c:
Distributions of ${\tau _{21}}$ and ${p_{\mathrm {T}}}$ (${{\mathrm {J}}}$) (after applying the ${\tau _{21}}$ selection) for boosted hadronic V (top) and H candidates (bottom). The gray band shows the statistical and systematic uncertainties on the background. The background for the ${\tau _{21}}$ distributions is normalized to the number of events in the data; the background normalization for the ${p_{\mathrm {T}}}$ (${{\mathrm {J}}}$) distributions is derived from the final fit to the data. The red dashed histograms correspond to a hypothetical linear (chiral) ALP with 1 TeV$ ^{-1}$ couplings to gluons and $\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{Z} $ (ZH), and $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV; the cross sections have been scaled, as shown in the legend, for better visibility. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 2-d:
Distributions of ${\tau _{21}}$ and ${p_{\mathrm {T}}}$ (${{\mathrm {J}}}$) (after applying the ${\tau _{21}}$ selection) for boosted hadronic V (top) and H candidates (bottom). The gray band shows the statistical and systematic uncertainties on the background. The background for the ${\tau _{21}}$ distributions is normalized to the number of events in the data; the background normalization for the ${p_{\mathrm {T}}}$ (${{\mathrm {J}}}$) distributions is derived from the final fit to the data. The red dashed histograms correspond to a hypothetical linear (chiral) ALP with 1 TeV$ ^{-1}$ couplings to gluons and $\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{Z} $ (ZH), and $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV; the cross sections have been scaled, as shown in the legend, for better visibility. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 3:
Distributions of the zero, loose, and medium DeepCSV tags for the most b-like subjet (left) and the less b-like subjet (right) of the boosted hadronic H candidates in SR2. The gray band shows the statistical and systematic uncertainties on the background. Background normalizations are derived from the final fit to the data. The red dashed histograms correspond to a hypothetical chiral ALP with $1 TeV ^{-1}$ couplings to gluons and ZH, and $f_a = $ 3 TeV; the cross section has been scaled, as shown in the legend, for better visibility. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 3-a:
Distributions of the zero, loose, and medium DeepCSV tags for the most b-like subjet (left) and the less b-like subjet (right) of the boosted hadronic H candidates in SR2. The gray band shows the statistical and systematic uncertainties on the background. Background normalizations are derived from the final fit to the data. The red dashed histograms correspond to a hypothetical chiral ALP with $1 TeV ^{-1}$ couplings to gluons and ZH, and $f_a = $ 3 TeV; the cross section has been scaled, as shown in the legend, for better visibility. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 3-b:
Distributions of the zero, loose, and medium DeepCSV tags for the most b-like subjet (left) and the less b-like subjet (right) of the boosted hadronic H candidates in SR2. The gray band shows the statistical and systematic uncertainties on the background. Background normalizations are derived from the final fit to the data. The red dashed histograms correspond to a hypothetical chiral ALP with $1 TeV ^{-1}$ couplings to gluons and ZH, and $f_a = $ 3 TeV; the cross section has been scaled, as shown in the legend, for better visibility. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 4:
Distributions of the merged jet ${m_\mathrm {J}}$ (top) and the dijet ${m_\mathrm {jj}}$ (bottom) for the untagged (left) and tagged (right) categories. Signal regions SR1 and SR2 and sideband SB have been defined in the text. The gray band shows the statistical and systematic uncertainties on the background. Background normalizations are derived from the final fit to the data. The red dashed histograms correspond to a hypothetical linear ALP with $1 TeV ^{-1}$ couplings to gluons and ZZ, and $f_a = $ 3 TeV; the cross section has been scaled, as shown in the legend, for better visibility. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 4-a:
Distributions of the merged jet ${m_\mathrm {J}}$ (top) and the dijet ${m_\mathrm {jj}}$ (bottom) for the untagged (left) and tagged (right) categories. Signal regions SR1 and SR2 and sideband SB have been defined in the text. The gray band shows the statistical and systematic uncertainties on the background. Background normalizations are derived from the final fit to the data. The red dashed histograms correspond to a hypothetical linear ALP with $1 TeV ^{-1}$ couplings to gluons and ZZ, and $f_a = $ 3 TeV; the cross section has been scaled, as shown in the legend, for better visibility. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 4-b:
Distributions of the merged jet ${m_\mathrm {J}}$ (top) and the dijet ${m_\mathrm {jj}}$ (bottom) for the untagged (left) and tagged (right) categories. Signal regions SR1 and SR2 and sideband SB have been defined in the text. The gray band shows the statistical and systematic uncertainties on the background. Background normalizations are derived from the final fit to the data. The red dashed histograms correspond to a hypothetical linear ALP with $1 TeV ^{-1}$ couplings to gluons and ZZ, and $f_a = $ 3 TeV; the cross section has been scaled, as shown in the legend, for better visibility. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 4-c:
Distributions of the merged jet ${m_\mathrm {J}}$ (top) and the dijet ${m_\mathrm {jj}}$ (bottom) for the untagged (left) and tagged (right) categories. Signal regions SR1 and SR2 and sideband SB have been defined in the text. The gray band shows the statistical and systematic uncertainties on the background. Background normalizations are derived from the final fit to the data. The red dashed histograms correspond to a hypothetical linear ALP with $1 TeV ^{-1}$ couplings to gluons and ZZ, and $f_a = $ 3 TeV; the cross section has been scaled, as shown in the legend, for better visibility. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 4-d:
Distributions of the merged jet ${m_\mathrm {J}}$ (top) and the dijet ${m_\mathrm {jj}}$ (bottom) for the untagged (left) and tagged (right) categories. Signal regions SR1 and SR2 and sideband SB have been defined in the text. The gray band shows the statistical and systematic uncertainties on the background. Background normalizations are derived from the final fit to the data. The red dashed histograms correspond to a hypothetical linear ALP with $1 TeV ^{-1}$ couplings to gluons and ZZ, and $f_a = $ 3 TeV; the cross section has been scaled, as shown in the legend, for better visibility. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 5:
The sideband diboson mass distributions for the boosted V (top), resolved V (bottom), untagged (left), and tagged (right) categories after fitting the sideband data alone. The points show the data, while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 5-a:
The sideband diboson mass distributions for the boosted V (top), resolved V (bottom), untagged (left), and tagged (right) categories after fitting the sideband data alone. The points show the data, while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 5-b:
The sideband diboson mass distributions for the boosted V (top), resolved V (bottom), untagged (left), and tagged (right) categories after fitting the sideband data alone. The points show the data, while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 5-c:
The sideband diboson mass distributions for the boosted V (top), resolved V (bottom), untagged (left), and tagged (right) categories after fitting the sideband data alone. The points show the data, while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 5-d:
The sideband diboson mass distributions for the boosted V (top), resolved V (bottom), untagged (left), and tagged (right) categories after fitting the sideband data alone. The points show the data, while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 6:
The SR1 ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{V}}}}$ distributions for the boosted V (top), resolved V (bottom), untagged (left), and tagged (right) categories after fitting the signal and sideband regions using a signal (ALP linear ZZ plus background model. The last bin includes events with ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{V}}}}$ values up to 3000 GeV. The points show the data, while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The signal is represented by the red dashed histogram, normalized to the observed 95% CL cross section limit at $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 6-a:
The SR1 ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{V}}}}$ distributions for the boosted V (top), resolved V (bottom), untagged (left), and tagged (right) categories after fitting the signal and sideband regions using a signal (ALP linear ZZ plus background model. The last bin includes events with ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{V}}}}$ values up to 3000 GeV. The points show the data, while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The signal is represented by the red dashed histogram, normalized to the observed 95% CL cross section limit at $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 6-b:
The SR1 ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{V}}}}$ distributions for the boosted V (top), resolved V (bottom), untagged (left), and tagged (right) categories after fitting the signal and sideband regions using a signal (ALP linear ZZ plus background model. The last bin includes events with ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{V}}}}$ values up to 3000 GeV. The points show the data, while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The signal is represented by the red dashed histogram, normalized to the observed 95% CL cross section limit at $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 6-c:
The SR1 ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{V}}}}$ distributions for the boosted V (top), resolved V (bottom), untagged (left), and tagged (right) categories after fitting the signal and sideband regions using a signal (ALP linear ZZ plus background model. The last bin includes events with ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{V}}}}$ values up to 3000 GeV. The points show the data, while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The signal is represented by the red dashed histogram, normalized to the observed 95% CL cross section limit at $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 6-d:
The SR1 ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{V}}}}$ distributions for the boosted V (top), resolved V (bottom), untagged (left), and tagged (right) categories after fitting the signal and sideband regions using a signal (ALP linear ZZ plus background model. The last bin includes events with ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{V}}}}$ values up to 3000 GeV. The points show the data, while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The signal is represented by the red dashed histogram, normalized to the observed 95% CL cross section limit at $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 7:
The SR2 ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{H}}}}$ distributions for the boosted H (top), resolved H (bottom), untagged, (left) and tagged (right) categories after fitting the signal and sideband regions using a signal (ALP chiral ZH) plus background model. The last bin includes events with ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{H}}}}$ values up to 3000 GeV. The points show the data while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The signal is represented by the red dashed histogram, normalized to the observed 95% CL cross section limit at $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 7-a:
The SR2 ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{H}}}}$ distributions for the boosted H (top), resolved H (bottom), untagged, (left) and tagged (right) categories after fitting the signal and sideband regions using a signal (ALP chiral ZH) plus background model. The last bin includes events with ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{H}}}}$ values up to 3000 GeV. The points show the data while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The signal is represented by the red dashed histogram, normalized to the observed 95% CL cross section limit at $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 7-b:
The SR2 ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{H}}}}$ distributions for the boosted H (top), resolved H (bottom), untagged, (left) and tagged (right) categories after fitting the signal and sideband regions using a signal (ALP chiral ZH) plus background model. The last bin includes events with ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{H}}}}$ values up to 3000 GeV. The points show the data while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The signal is represented by the red dashed histogram, normalized to the observed 95% CL cross section limit at $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 7-c:
The SR2 ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{H}}}}$ distributions for the boosted H (top), resolved H (bottom), untagged, (left) and tagged (right) categories after fitting the signal and sideband regions using a signal (ALP chiral ZH) plus background model. The last bin includes events with ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{H}}}}$ values up to 3000 GeV. The points show the data while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The signal is represented by the red dashed histogram, normalized to the observed 95% CL cross section limit at $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 7-d:
The SR2 ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{H}}}}$ distributions for the boosted H (top), resolved H (bottom), untagged, (left) and tagged (right) categories after fitting the signal and sideband regions using a signal (ALP chiral ZH) plus background model. The last bin includes events with ${m_{{\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{H}}}}$ values up to 3000 GeV. The points show the data while the filled histograms show the background contributions. The signal is represented by the red dashed histogram, normalized to the observed 95% CL cross section limit at $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV. The gray band indicates the statistical and postfit systematic uncertainties on the normalization and shape of the background. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to background.

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Figure 8:
Observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on $\sigma _{\mathrm{G}} \tmspace +\thinmuskip {.1667em} {\mathcal {B}} (\mathrm{G} \to {\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{Z}})$ (left) and $\sigma _{\mathrm{W'}} \tmspace +\thinmuskip {.1667em} {\mathcal {B}} (\mathrm{W'} \to {\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{W}})$ (right) as a function of the resonance mass, taking into account all statistical and systematic uncertainties. The electron and muon channels and the various categories used in the analysis are combined together. The green (inner) and yellow (outer) bands represent the 68% and 95% coverage of the expected limit in the background-only hypothesis. Theoretical predictions for the signal production cross section are also shown: (left) G produced in the WED bulk graviton model with $ \tilde{\kappa} =$ 0.5; (right) W' produced in the framework of HVT model A with $g_\mathrm {v}=$ 1 and model B with $g_\mathrm {v}=$ 3.

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Figure 8-a:
Observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on $\sigma _{\mathrm{G}} \tmspace +\thinmuskip {.1667em} {\mathcal {B}} (\mathrm{G} \to {\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{Z}})$ (left) and $\sigma _{\mathrm{W'}} \tmspace +\thinmuskip {.1667em} {\mathcal {B}} (\mathrm{W'} \to {\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{W}})$ (right) as a function of the resonance mass, taking into account all statistical and systematic uncertainties. The electron and muon channels and the various categories used in the analysis are combined together. The green (inner) and yellow (outer) bands represent the 68% and 95% coverage of the expected limit in the background-only hypothesis. Theoretical predictions for the signal production cross section are also shown: (left) G produced in the WED bulk graviton model with $ \tilde{\kappa} =$ 0.5; (right) W' produced in the framework of HVT model A with $g_\mathrm {v}=$ 1 and model B with $g_\mathrm {v}=$ 3.

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Figure 8-b:
Observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on $\sigma _{\mathrm{G}} \tmspace +\thinmuskip {.1667em} {\mathcal {B}} (\mathrm{G} \to {\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{Z}})$ (left) and $\sigma _{\mathrm{W'}} \tmspace +\thinmuskip {.1667em} {\mathcal {B}} (\mathrm{W'} \to {\mathrm{Z} \mathrm{W}})$ (right) as a function of the resonance mass, taking into account all statistical and systematic uncertainties. The electron and muon channels and the various categories used in the analysis are combined together. The green (inner) and yellow (outer) bands represent the 68% and 95% coverage of the expected limit in the background-only hypothesis. Theoretical predictions for the signal production cross section are also shown: (left) G produced in the WED bulk graviton model with $ \tilde{\kappa} =$ 0.5; (right) W' produced in the framework of HVT model A with $g_\mathrm {v}=$ 1 and model B with $g_\mathrm {v}=$ 3.

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Figure 9:
Observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on the ALP linear $ | {c_{\tilde{\mathrm{G}}}} {c_{\tilde{\mathrm{Z}}}} | $ (left) and the ALP chiral $ | {c_{\tilde{\mathrm{G}}}} {\tilde{a}_{\text {2D}}} | $ (right) couplings as a function of the mass scale $f_{\mathrm{a}} $ for ALP masses $m_{\mathrm{a}} < $ 100 GeV.

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Figure 9-a:
Observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on the ALP linear $ | {c_{\tilde{\mathrm{G}}}} {c_{\tilde{\mathrm{Z}}}} | $ (left) and the ALP chiral $ | {c_{\tilde{\mathrm{G}}}} {\tilde{a}_{\text {2D}}} | $ (right) couplings as a function of the mass scale $f_{\mathrm{a}} $ for ALP masses $m_{\mathrm{a}} < $ 100 GeV.

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Figure 9-b:
Observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on the ALP linear $ | {c_{\tilde{\mathrm{G}}}} {c_{\tilde{\mathrm{Z}}}} | $ (left) and the ALP chiral $ | {c_{\tilde{\mathrm{G}}}} {\tilde{a}_{\text {2D}}} | $ (right) couplings as a function of the mass scale $f_{\mathrm{a}} $ for ALP masses $m_{\mathrm{a}} < $ 100 GeV.
Tables

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Table 1:
Summary of selection requirements and categorization.

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Table 2:
Summary of systematic uncertainties, quoted in percent, affecting the normalization of background and signal samples. Where a systematic uncertainty depends on the signal ZV or ZH final state or mass, the smallest and largest values are reported in the table. In the case of a systematic uncertainty applying only to a specific background source, the source is indicated in parentheses. Systematic uncertainties too small to be considered are written as "$ < $0.1", while a dash (--) represents uncertainties not applicable in the specific analysis category.

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Table 3:
Selection efficiencies for the bulk graviton, W', and ALP linear and chiral models.

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Table 4:
Expected and observed 95% CL$_{\text{s}}$ upper limits on $\sigma (\mathrm{g} \mathrm{g} \to \mathrm{a}^{*} \to \mathrm{Z} \mathrm{Z} / \mathrm{Z} \mathrm{H})$ in fb for $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV.
Summary
A search for heavy resonances and nonresonant ALPs in semileptonic ZZ, ZW, or ZH final states has been presented. The analysis is sensitive to resonances with masses in the range from 450 to 1800 GeV decaying into ZZ or ZW. A search for the effects of nonresonant ALP-mediated ZZ or ZH production has been included. Two categories are defined based on the merged or resolved reconstruction of the hadronically decaying boson. The search is based on data collected from 2016 to 2018 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in proton-proton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$.

No excess is observed in the data above the standard model expectations. Depending on the resonance mass, upper limits of 2-90 fb and 5-120 fb have been set on the product of the cross section of a spin-2 bulk graviton and the ZZ branching fraction, and on a spin-1 W' signal and the ZW branching fraction, respectively. These limits improve on those previously obtained by the CMS collaboration in the analogous final states [11]. Upper limits on the nonresonant ALP-mediated ZZ and ZH production cross sections for a scale $f_{\mathrm{a}} = $ 3 TeV and ALP masses $m_{\mathrm{a}} < $ 100 GeV have been established at 162 fb and 57 fb, respectively. Depending on the value of the scale $f_{\mathrm{a}}$, upper limits on the product of the ALP coupling to gluons with the relevant coupling to ZZ or ZH of 0.02-0.09 TeV$^{-2}$ have been set, valid for ALP masses $m_{\mathrm{a}} < $ 100 GeV. These are the first limits based on nonresonant ALP-mediated ZZ and ZH production obtained by the LHC experiments.
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Compact Muon Solenoid
LHC, CERN