Bottom-antibottom Quark Pair Research Articles

Search for a new scalar resonance in flavour-changing neutral-current top-quark decays t → qX (q = u, c), with X → boverline{b} , in proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for flavour-changing neutral-current decays of a top quark into an up-type quark (either up or charm) and a light scalar particle X decaying into a bottom anti-bottom quark pair is presented. The search focuses on top-quark pair production where one top quark decays to qX, with X → boverline{b} , and the other top quark decays according to the Standard Model, with the W boson decaying leptonically. The final state is thus characterised by an isolated electron or muon and at least four jets. Events are categorised according to the multiplicity of jets and jets tagged as originating from b-quarks, and a neural network is used to discriminate between signal and background processes. The data analysed correspond to 139 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The 95% confidence-level upper limits between 0.019% and 0.062% are derived for the branching fraction mathcal{B} (t → uX) and between 0.018% and 0.078% for the branching fraction mathcal{B} (t → cX), for masses of the scalar particle X between 20 and 160 GeV.

Fat b-jet analyses using old and new clustering algorithms in new Higgs boson searches at the LHC

We compare different jet-clustering algorithms in establishing fully hadronic final states stemming from the chain decay of a heavy Higgs state into a pair of the 125 GeV Higgs boson that decays into bottom-antibottom quark pairs. Such 4b events typically give rise to boosted topologies, wherein b{bar{b}} pairs emerging from each 125 GeV Higgs boson tend to merge into a single, fat b-jet. Assuming large hadron collider (LHC) settings, we illustrate how both the efficiency of selecting the multi-jet final state and the ability to reconstruct from it the masses of all Higgs bosons depend on the choice of jet-clustering algorithm and its parameter settings. We indicate the optimal choice of clustering method for the purpose of establishing such a ubiquitous beyond the SM (BSM) signal, illustrated via a Type-II 2-Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM).

Revisiting jet clustering algorithms for new Higgs Boson searches in hadronic final states

We assess the performance of different jet-clustering algorithms, in the presence of different resolution parameters and reconstruction procedures, in resolving fully hadronic final states emerging from the chain decay of the discovered Higgs boson into pairs of new identical Higgs states, the latter in turn decaying into bottom-antibottom quark pairs. We show that, at the large hadron collider (LHC), both the efficiency of selecting the multi-jet final state and the ability to reconstruct from it the masses of the Higgs bosons (potentially) present in an event sample depend strongly on the choice of acceptance cuts, jet-clustering algorithm as well as its settings. Hence, we indicate the optimal choice of the latter for the purpose of establishing such a benchmark Beyond the SM (BSM) signal. We then repeat the exercise for a heavy Higgs boson cascading into two SM-like Higgs states, obtaining similar results.

Discrimination between the final state of tH and tb using neural network

After the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the effort to understand the detailed properties of the Higgs bosons started. Of particular importance is study of the Higgs coupling to the top quark. This coupling can be studied through the associated production of Higgs boson with top-antitop quark pair, tH. This process however suffers from the indistinguishable background tH , since the Higgs boson decays predominately into bottom anti-bottom quark pair, b . This study presents systematic approach of using machine learning (ML), specifically neural network method to distinguish between the process tH and tb . Using input variables of kinematic variables (momentum), we found a signal efficiency of 46.7 % for signal events that have passed the preselection criteria. We conclude that the currently used input variables are not sufficient to discriminate between signal and background events, and we suggest that inclusion of input variables calculated from the fully reconstructed event could provide stronger discrimination between signal and background.

Search for Higgs-like particles produced in association with bottom quarks in proton-antiproton collisions

We report on a search for a spin-zero non-standard-model particle in proton-antiproton collisions collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab at a center-of-mass-energy of 1.96 TeV. This particle, the $\phi$ boson, is expected to decay into a bottom-antibottom quark pair and to be produced in association with at least one bottom quark. The data sample consists of events with three jets identified as initiated by bottom quarks and corresponds to $5.4~\text{fb}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity. In each event, the invariant mass of the two most energetic jets is studied by looking for deviations from the multijet background, which is modeled using data. No evidence is found for such particle. Exclusion upper limits ranging from 20 to 2 pb are set for the product of production cross sections times branching fraction for hypothetical $\phi$ boson with mass between 100 and 300 GeV/$c^2$. These are the most stringent constraints to date.

Higgs Decay, $Z$ Decay and the QCD Beta Function

Recent developments in perturbative QCD, leading to the beta function in five-loop approximation are presented. In a first step the two most important decay modes of the Higgs boson are discussed: decays into a pair of gluons and, alternatively, decays into a bottom-antibottom quark pair. Subsequently the quark mass anomalous dimension is presented which is important for predicting the value of the bottom quark mass at high scales and, consequently, the Higgs boson decay rate into pair of massive quarks, in particular into $b\bar b$. In the next section the $\alpha_s^4$ corrections to the vector- and axial-vector correlator are discussed. These are the essential ingredients for the evaluation of the QCD corrections to the cross section for electron-positron annihilation into hadrons at low and at high energies, to the hadronic decay rate of the $\tau$ lepton and for the $Z$-boson decay rate into hadrons. Finally we present the prediction for the QCD beta-function in five-loop approximation, discuss the analytic structure of the result and compare with experiment at low and at high energies.

Tevatron constraints on models of the Higgs boson with exotic spin and parity using decays to bottom-antibottom quark pairs.

Combined constraints from the CDF and D0 Collaborations on models of the Higgs boson with exotic spin J and parity P are presented and compared with results obtained assuming the standard model value JP=0+. Both collaborations analyzed approximately 10 fb(-) of proton-antiproton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV collected at the Fermilab Tevatron. Two models predicting exotic Higgs bosons with JP=0- and JP=2+ are tested. The kinematic properties of exotic Higgs boson production in association with a vector boson differ from those predicted for the standard model Higgs boson. Upper limits at the 95% credibility level on the production rates of the exotic Higgs bosons, expressed as fractions of the standard model Higgs boson production rate, are set at 0.36 for both the JP=0- hypothesis and the JP=2+ hypothesis. If the production rate times the branching ratio to a bottom-antibottom pair is the same as that predicted for the standard model Higgs boson, then the exotic bosons are excluded with significances of 5.0 standard deviations and 4.9 standard deviations for the JP=0- and JP=2+ hypotheses, respectively.

Constraints on models of the Higgs boson with exotic spin and parity using decays to bottom-antibottom quarks in the full CDF data set.

A search for particles with the same mass and couplings as those of the standard model Higgs boson but different spin and parity quantum numbers is presented. We test two specific alternative Higgs boson hypotheses: a pseudoscalar Higgs boson with spin-parity J^{P}=0^{-} and a gravitonlike Higgs boson with J^{P}=2^{+}, assuming for both a mass of 125 GeV/c^{2}. We search for these exotic states produced in association with a vector boson and decaying into a bottom-antibottom quark pair. The vector boson is reconstructed through its decay into an electron or muon pair, or an electron or muon and a neutrino, or it is inferred from an imbalance in total transverse momentum. We use expected kinematic differences between events containing exotic Higgs bosons and those containing standard model Higgs bosons. The data were collected by the CDF experiment at the Tevatron proton-antiproton collider, operating at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt[s]=1.96 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 9.45 fb^{-1}. We exclude deviations from the predictions of the standard model with a Higgs boson of mass 125 GeV/c^{2} at the level of 5 standard deviations, assuming signal strengths for exotic boson production equal to the prediction for the standard model Higgs boson, and set upper limits of approximately 30% relative to the standard model rate on the possible rate of production of each exotic state.

A new hadron spectroscopy

QCD-motivated models for hadrons predict an assortment of "exotic" hadrons that have structures that are more complex than the quark-antiquark mesons and three-quark baryons of the original quark-parton model. These include pentaquark baryons, the six-quark H-dibaryon, and tetraquark, hybrid and glueball mesons. Despite extensive experimental searches, no unambiguous candidates for any of these exotic configurations have been identified. On the other hand, a number of meson states, one that seems to be a proton-antiproton bound state, and others that contain either charmed-anticharmed quark pairs or bottom-antibottom quark pairs, have been recently discovered that neither fit into the quark-antiquark meson picture nor match the expected properties of the QCD-inspired exotics. Here I briefly review results from a recent search for the H-dibaryon, and discuss some properties of the newly discovered states --the proton-antiproton state and the so-called XYZ mesons-- and compare them with expectations for conventional quark-antiquark mesons and the predicted QCD-exotic states.

QCD exotics

QCD-motivated models for hadrons predict an assortment of "exotic" hadrons that have structures that are more complex then the quark-antiquark mesons and three-quark baryons of the original quark-parton model. These include pentaquark baryons, the six-quark H-dibaryon, and tetra-quark, hybrid, and glueball mesons. Despite extensive experimental searches, no unambiguous candidates for any of these exotic configurations have yet to be identified. On the other hand, a number of meson states, one that seems to be a proton-antiproton bound state, and others that contain either charmed-anticharmed quark pairs or bottom-antibottom quark pairs, have been recently discovered that neither fit into the quark-antiquark meson picture nor match the expected properties of the QCD-inspired exotics. Here I briefly review results from a recent search for the H-dibaryon, and discuss some properties of the newly discovered states --the so-called XYZ mesons-- and compare them with expectations for conventional quark-antiquark mesons and the predicted QCD-exotic states.

New hadron spectroscopies

QCD-motivated models for hadrons predict an assortment of "exotic" hadrons that have structures that are more complex than the quark-antiquark mesons and three-quark baryons of the original quark-parton model. These include pentaquark baryons, the six-quark H-dibaryon, and tetraquark and glueball mesons. Despite extensive experimental searches, no unambiguous candidates for any of these exotic configurations have yet to be identified. On the other hand, a number of meson states, one that seems to be a proton-antiproton bound state, and others that contain either charmed-anticharmed quark pairs or bottom-antibottom quark pairs, have been recently discovered that neither fit into the quark-antiquark meson picture nor match the expected properties of the QCD-inspired exotics. Here I briefly review results from a recent search for the H-dibaryon, and discuss some properties of the newly discovered states –the so-called XYZ mesons– and compare them with expectations for conventional quark-antiquark mesons and the predicted QCD-exotic states.

Search for a two-Higgs-boson doublet using a simplified model in pp collisions at sqrt[s] = 1.96 TeV.

We present a search for new particles in an extension to the standard model that includes a heavy Higgs boson (H(0)), a lighter charged Higgs boson (H(±)), and an even lighter Higgs boson h(0), with decays leading to a W-boson pair and a bottom-antibottom quark pair in the final state. We use events with exactly one lepton, missing transverse momentum, and at least four jets in data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.7 fb(-1) collected by the CDF II detector in proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt[s]= 1.96 TeV. We find the data to be consistent with standard model predictions and report the results in terms of a simplified Higgs-cascade-decay model, setting 95% confidence level upper limits on the product of cross section and branching fraction from 1.3 pb to 15 fb as a function of H(0) and H(±) masses for m(h)(0) = 126 GeV/c(2).

Search for the Higgs boson in the all-hadronic final state using the full CDF data set

Abstract This paper reports the result of a search for the standard model Higgs boson in events containing four reconstructed jets associated with quarks. For masses below 135 GeV/c 2, the Higgs boson decays to bottom-antibottom quark pairs are dominant and result primarily in two hadronic jets. An additional two jets can be produced in the hadronic decay of a W or Z boson produced in association with the Higgs boson, or from the incoming quarks that produced the Higgs boson through the vector-boson fusion process. The search is performed using a sample of $ \sqrt{s}=1.96 $ TeV proton-antiproton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.45 fb−1 recorded by the CDF II detector. The data are in agreement with the background model and 95% credibility level upper limits on Higgs boson production are set as a function of the Higgs boson mass. The median expected (observed) limit for a 125 GeV/c 2 Higgs boson is 11.0 (9.0) times the predicted standard model rate.

Standard Model Higgs Boson Searches at CDF

We present recent results from searches for a standard model Higgs boson by the CDF experiment at the Tevatron pp¯ collider with the full Run II data set. An excess of events above the expected background is observed and is the strongest in the associated production search channels where the Higgs is produced together with a W or Z boson, and then decays to a bottom-antibottom quark pair, with a global significance of 2.5σ. Both limits and best fit values of the Higgs production cross section are presented. For a Higgs mass of 125GeV/c2, the best agreement with data in the (σWH+σZH)×Br(H→bb¯)=291±113118fb.

Evidence for a Particle Produced in Association with Weak Bosons and Decaying to a Bottom-Antibottom Quark Pair in Higgs Boson Searches at the Tevatron

We combine searches by the CDF and D0 Collaborations for the associated production of a Higgs boson with a W or Z boson and subsequent decay of the Higgs boson to a bottom-antibottom quark pair. The data, originating from Fermilab Tevatron pp collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV, correspond to integrated luminosities of up to 9.7 fb(-1). The searches are conducted for a Higgs boson with mass in the range 100-150 GeV/c(2). We observe an excess of events in the data compared with the background predictions, which is most significant in the mass range between 120 and 135 GeV/c(2). The largest local significance is 3.3 standard deviations, corresponding to a global significance of 3.1 standard deviations. We interpret this as evidence for the presence of a new particle consistent with the standard model Higgs boson, which is produced in association with a weak vector boson and decays to a bottom-antibottom quark pair.