Matched predictions for Higgs production via heavy-quark loops in the standard model and beyond

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The main Higgs production channel at hadron colliders is gluon fusion via heavy-quark loops. We present the results of a fully exclusive simulation of gluon fusion Higgs production based on the matrix elements for $h+0$, 1, 2 partons including full heavy-quark loop dependence, matched to a parton shower. We consider a Higgs with standard model couplings as well as models where the Higgs has enhanced couplings to bottom quarks ($b$-philic). We study the most relevant kinematic distributions, such as jet and Higgs ${p}_{T}$ spectra and find that matched samples provide an accurate description of the final state. For the SM Higgs, we confirm the excellent accuracy of the large heavy-quark-mass approximation also in differential distributions over all phase space, with significant effects arising only at large ${p}_{T}$. For a $b$-philic Higgs however, the loops have a dramatic impact on the kinematics of the Higgs as well as of the jets and need to be accounted for exactly to achieve reliable event simulations.