Abstract:
The first proton-proton run of the Large Hadron Collider last year delivered over 40 inverse picobarns of data to the ATLAS detector. The collaboration has analysed the full 2010 dataset, and excellent detector performance has been established using well-known Standard Model processes. Searches for physics beyond the Standard Model have also been performed, many extending beyond the reach of previous experiments. In this talk, ATLAS's first searches for heavy gauge bosons, fourth generation quarks, leptoquarks, contact interactions, and more will be presented, including some new results from Moriond. As the 2011-2012 run begins, with the LHC already achieving record-setting instantaneous luminosities, the searches for new physics in the much larger dataset to come will follow closely in the path of these first results.