Search for contact interactions in dilepton events from pp collisions at √s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract

This Letter presents a search for contact interactions in the dielectron and dimuon channels using data from proton-proton collisions produced by the LHC at s=7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. The data sample, collected in 2011, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.08 and 1.21 fb -1 in the e + e - and μ + μ - channels, respectively. No significant deviations from the standard model are observed. Using a Bayesian approach with a prior flat in 1/Λ 2 , the following 95% CL lower limits are placed on the energy scale of ℓℓqq contact interactions: Λ - >10.1 TeV (Λ + >9.4 TeV) in the electron channel and Λ - >8.0 TeV (Λ + >7.0 TeV) in the muon channel for constructive (destructive) interference in the left-left isoscalar contact interaction model. Limits are also provided for a prior flat in 1/Λ 4 . © 2012 CERN.