A measurement of the high-mass ττ¯ production cross-section at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector and constraints on new particles and couplings

The production cross-section of high-mass τ-lepton pairs is measured as a function of the dilepton visible invariant mass, using 140 fb^-1 of √s = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurement agrees with the predictions of the Standard Model. A fit to the invariant mass distribution is performed as a function of b-jet multiplicity, to constrain the non-resonant production of new particles described by an effective field theory or in models containing leptoquarks or Z' bosons that couple preferentially to third-generation fermions. The constraints on new particles improve on previous results, and the constraints on effective operators include those affecting the anomalous magnetic moment of the τ-lepton.