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

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/Λ2, 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/Λ4.