Supersymmetric Higgs searches: Beyond the MSSM

Abstract

The recent results from the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations show that the allowed range for a standard model Higgs boson is now restricted to a very thin region, if one excludes a very heavy Higgs. Although those limits are presented exclusively in the framework of the standard model, the searches themselves remain sensitive to other Higgs models. We recast the limits within a generic supersymmetric framework that goes beyond the usual minimal extension. Such a generic model can be parametrized through a supersymmetric effective Lagrangian with higher-order operators appearing in the K\"ahler potential and the superpotential, an approach whose first motivation is to alleviate the fine-tuning problem in supersymmetry with the most dramatic consequence being a substantial increase in the mass of the lightest Higgs boson as compared to the minimal supersymmetic model. We investigate in this paper the constraints set by the LHC on such models. We also investigate how the present picture will change when gathering more luminosity. Issues of how to combine and exploit data from the LHC dedicated to searches for the standard model Higgs to such supersymmetry inspired scenarios are discussed. We also discuss the impact of invisible decays of the Higgs in such scenarios.