Abstract
The Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) contains a singlet-like pseudoscalar Higgs boson in addition to the doublet-like pseudoscalar of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. This new pseudoscalar can have a very low mass without violating the LEP exclusion constraints and it can potentially provide a hallmark signature of non-minimal supersymmetry at the LHC. In this analysis we revisit the light pseudoscalar in the NMSSM with partial universality at some high unification scale. We delineate the regions of the model's parameter space that are consistent with the up-to-date theoretical and experimental constraints, from both Higgs boson searches and elsewhere (most notably $b$-physics), and examine to what extent they can be probed by the LHC. To this end we review the most important production channels of such a Higgs state and assess the scope of its observation at the forthcoming Run-2 of the LHC. We conclude that the $b\bar{b}$-associated production of the pseudoscalar, which has been emphasised in previous studies, does not carry much promise anymore, given the measured mass of the Higgs boson at the LHC. However, the decays of one of the heavier scalar Higgsbosons of the NMSSM can potentially lead to the discovery of its light pseudoscalar. Especially promising are the decays of one or both of the two lightest scalar states into a pseudoscalar pair and of the heaviest scalar into a pseudoscalar and a $Z$ boson. Since the latter channel has not been explored in detail in the literature so far, we provide details of some benchmark points which can be probed for establishing its signature.
Highlights
Background cross section3400 pb 3.1 pb 5.4 fb 126 pb 0.46 pb acceptance cuts have been applied at the parton level
Since gluon fusion (GF) is by far the dominant Higgs boson production mode at the LHC, RX serves as a good approximation for the inclusive theoretical counterpart of the experimentally measured signal strength, μX, defined as μX
In the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) the signal peak observed at the LHC near 125 GeV can be interpreted as a superposition of both H1 and H2 that are nearly degenerate in mass [94, 95]
Summary
Background cross section3400 pb 3.1 pb 5.4 fb 126 pb 0.46 pb acceptance cuts have been applied at the parton level. Since the signal events are generated directly in Pythia, the above acceptance cuts are implemented not at the parton level but at the hadron level after jet clustering. For this reason we do not provide any exact efficiency values for the signal processes. In general, from around 0.05% for bbZ and 10% for bbbb, to almost 100% of the signal events meet the acceptance requirements at the parton level, depending on the masses involved. We do not include any detector effects or smearing, the hadronisation and consequent jet clustering have a similar effect of broadening the studied objects. We expect the inclusion of smearing due to the detector resolution to only marginally change our results
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