Diphoton Channel Research Articles

Vacuum stability and Higgs diphoton decays in the MSSM

Abstract Current Higgs data at the Large Hadron Collider is compatible with a SM signal at the 2σ level, but the central value of the signal strength in the diphoton channel is enhanced with respect to the SM expectation. If the enhancement resides in the diphoton partial decay width, the data could be accommodated in the Minimally Super-symmetric Standard Model (MSSM) with highly mixed light staus. We revisit the issue of vacuum instability induced by large mixing in the stau sector, including effects of a radiatively-corrected tau Yukawa coupling. Further, we emphasize the importance of taking into account the tan β dependence in the stability bound. While the metastability of the Universe constrains the possible enhancement in the Higgs to diphoton decay width in the light stau scenario, an increase of the order of 50% can be achieved in the region of large tan β. Larger enhancements may be obtained, but would require values of tan β associated with non-perturbative values of the tau Yukawa coupling at scales below the GUT scale, thereby implying the presence of new physics beyond the MSSM.

Search for contact interactions and large extra dimensions in dilepton events fromppcollisions ats=7 TeVwith the ATLAS detector

A search for non-resonant new phenomena, originating from either contact interactions or large extra spatial dimensions, has been carried out using events with two isolated electrons or muons. These events, produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, were recorded by the ATLAS detector. The data sample, collected throughout 2011, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 and 5.0 fb-1 in the e+e- and mu+mu- channels, respectively. No significant deviations from the Standard Model expectation are observed. Using a Bayesian approach, 95% confidence limit lower limits ranging from 9.0 to 13.9 TeV are placed on the energy scale of llqq contact interactions in the left-left isoscalar model. Lower limits ranging from 2.4 to 3.9 TeV are also set on the string scale in large extra dimension models. After combination of these limits with results from a similar search in the diphoton channel, slightly more stringent limits are obtained.

Graviton Signals in Central Production at the LHC

We study central production, in the inclusive case, to look for graviton signals in a large extra dimensional model using dilepton and diphoton channels. We carefully analyze signal and possible standard model background processes and study the feasibility of such new physics searches in a relatively clean environment as in central production where the proton fragments are mostly emitted in the forward direction, and there is a clear rapidity gap between them and the centrally produced system. Our analysis shows that the LHC with 14 TeV center of mass energy and 100 fb−1(300 fb−1) of integrated luminosity can probe the effective gravity scale up to 3.6 TeV (4.4 TeV) in both the dilepton and diphoton channels.

Higgs couplings and precision electroweak data

In light of the discovery of a Higgs-like particle at the LHC, we revisit the status of the precision electroweak data, focusing on two discrepant observables: 1) the long-standing 2.4 sigma deviation in the forward-backward asymmetry of the bottom quark A_{FB}^b, and 2) the 2.3 sigma deviation in R_b, the ratio of the Z \rightarrow b \bar b partial width to the inclusive hadronic width, which is now in tension after a recent calculation including new two-loop electroweak corrections. We consider possible resolutions of these discrepancies. Taking the data at face value, the most compelling scenario is that new physics directly affects A_{FB}^b and R_b, bringing the prediction into accord with the measured values. We propose a modified `Beautiful Mirrors' scenario which contains new vector-like quarks that mix with the b quark, modifying the Z b\bar b vertex and thus correcting A_{FB}^b and R_b. We show that this scenario can lead to modifications to the production rates of the Higgs boson in certain channels, and in particular a sizable enhancement in the diphoton channel. We also describe additional collider tests of this scenario.

Search for a Higgs boson produced in the vector boson fusion process in the diphoton channel with the ATLAS experiment

Details of the production of the new particle discovered by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in the mass region of mH = 126 GeV in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson at √s = 7 TeV and 8 TeV are presented. The addition of a category enriched in vector boson fusion events in the H → γγ search allows to increase the sensitivity of the search of a Standard Model Higgs boson. It also allows to separate better between gluon fusion and vector boson production modes, thus giving a first insight to the couplings of this newly discovered boson.

2:1 for naturalness at the LHC?

Abstract A large enhancement of a factor of 1.5 - 2 in Higgs production and decay in the diphoton channel, with little deviation in the ZZ channel, can only plausibly arise from a loop of new charged particles with large couplings to the Higgs. We show that, allowing only new fermions with marginal interactions at the weak scale, the required Yukawa couplings for a factor of 2 enhancement are so large that the Higgs quartic coupling is pushed to large negative values in the UV, triggering an unacceptable vacuum instability far beneath the 10 TeV scale. An enhancement by a factor of 1.5 can be accommodated if the charged particles are lighter than 150 GeV, within reach of discovery in almost all cases in the 8 TeV run at the LHC, and in even the most difficult cases at 14 TeV. Thus if the diphoton enhancement survives further scrutiny, and no charged particles beneath 150 GeV are found, there must be new bosons far beneath the 10 TeV scale. This would unambiguously rule out a large class of fine-tuned theories for physics beyond the Standard Model, including split SUSY and many of its variants, and provide strong circumstantial evidence for a natural theory of electroweak symmetry breaking at the TeV scale. Alternately, theories with only a single fine-tuned Higgs and new fermions at the weak scale, with no additional scalars or gauge bosons up to a cutoff much larger than the 10 TeV scale, unambiguously predict that the hints for a large diphoton enhancement in the current data will disappear.

LHC Higgs signatures from extended electroweak gauge symmetry

We study LHC Higgs signatures from the extended electroweak gauge symmetry SU(2) x SU(2) x U(1). Under this gauge structure, we present an effective UV completion of the 3-site moose model with ideal fermion delocalization, which contains two neutral Higgs states (h, H) and three new gauge bosons (W', Z'). We study the unitarity, and reveal that the exact E^2 cancellation in the longitudinal WW scattering amplitudes is achieved by the joint role of exchanging both spin-1 new gauge bosons and spin-0 Higgs bosons. We identify the lighter Higgs state h with mass 125GeV, and derive the unitarity bound on the mass of heavier Higgs boson H. The parameter space of this model is highly predictive. We study the production and decay signals of this 125GeV Higgs boson h at the LHC. We demonstrate that the h Higgs boson can naturally have enhanced signals in the diphoton channel $gg \to h \to\gamma\gamma$, while the events rates in the reactions $gg \to h \to WW^*$ and $gg \to h \to ZZ^*$ are generally suppressed relative to the SM expectation. Searching the h Higgs boson via associated productions and vector boson fusions are also discussed for our model. We further analyze the LHC signals of the heavier Higgs boson H as a distinctive new physics discriminator from the SM. For wide mass-ranges of H, we derive constraints from the existing LHC searches, and study the discovery potential of H at the LHC(8TeV) and LHC(14TeV).

Spin determination for fermiophobic bosons

We discuss the prospects for production and detection of fermiophobic bosons (exotic bosons decaying only to standard model gauge bosons) at the LHC, and describe simple methods for determining spin. We consider two complementary approaches to spin determination: the search for decays in the diphoton channel, and the comparison of events with no extra spectator jets to those with one extra jet. We show that these approaches can together allow the fermiophobic bosons spin to be determined over a wide range of parameter space. We study both even and odd parity states.

Higgs boson production and decay: Effects from light third generation and vectorlike matter

We study the implications of light third generation sparticles on the production cross section and decay widths of a light $CP$-even Higgs boson. For simplicity, we consider scenarios in which only one of the sfermions from the third generation is light. For each case, we attempt to explain the apparently large enhancement in the Higgs production and decay in the diphoton channel with small deviations in the $ZZ$ channel. In the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) framework we find that only a light stau can explain these observations while keeping the lightest $CP$-even Higgs boson mass in the interval $123\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}\ensuremath{\lesssim}{m}_{h}\ensuremath{\lesssim}127\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$. For the light stop scenario, the observations related to the diphoton and $ZZ$ channel can be accommodated but, in order to satisfy the Higgs mass bound, one needs to go beyond the MSSM. In particular, we invoke vectorlike particles with masses around a TeV. These new particles preserve gauge coupling unification and provide additional contributions to the Higgs mass. With these new contributions a 126 GeV Higgs mass is easily achieved. We also find that with only a light sbottom quark, the above mentioned excess is hard to accommodate.

Inverse seesaw in NMSSM and 126 GeV Higgs boson

We consider extensions of the next-to-minimal supersymmetric model (NMSSM) in which the observed neutrino masses are generated through a TeV scale inverse seesaw mechanism. The new particles associated with this mechanism can have sizable couplings to the Higgs field which can yield a large contribution to the mass of the lightest CP-even Higgs boson. With this new contribution, a 126 GeV Higgs is possible along with order of 200 GeV masses for the stop quarks for a broad range of tanβ. The Higgs production and decay in the diphoton channel can be enhanced due to this new contribution. It is also possible to solve the little hierarchy problem in this model without invoking a maximal value for the NMSSM trilinear coupling and without severe restrictions on the value of tanβ.

Have we observed the Higgs boson (imposter)?

We interpret the new particle at the Large Hadron Collider as a CP-even scalar and investigate its electroweak quantum number. Assuming an unbroken custodial invariance as suggested by precision electroweak measurements, only four possibilities are allowed if the scalar decays to pairs of gauge bosons, as exemplified by a dilaton/radion, a non-dilatonic electroweak singlet scalar, an electroweak doublet scalar, and electroweak triplet scalars. We show that current LHC data already strongly disfavor both the dilatonic and non-dilatonic singlet imposters. On the other hand, a generic Higgs doublet give excellent fits to the measured event rates of the newly observed scalar resonance, while the Standard Model Higgs boson gives a slightly worse overall fit due to the lack signal in the tau tau channel. The triplet imposter exhibits some tension with the data. The global fit indicates the enhancement in the diphoton channel could be attributed to an enhanced partial decay width, while the production rates are consistent with the Standard Model expectations. We emphasize that more precise measurements of the ratio of event rates in the WW over ZZ channels, as well as the event rates in b bbar and tau tau channels, are needed to further distinguish the Higgs doublet from the triplet imposter.

Exclusive signals of an extended Higgs sector

Expectations for the magnitude of Higgs boson signals in standard Higgs search channels at the LHC relative to Standard Model (SM) expectations are investigated within the framework of various types of CP and flavor conserving two Higgs doublet models (2HDMs). Signals of the SM-like Higgs boson in different classes of 2HDM may be parameterized in terms of particular two-dimensional sub-spaces of the general four-dimensional space of Higgs couplings to the massive vector bosons, top quark, bottom quark, and tau lepton. We find fairly strong correlations among the inclusive di-photon channel and the exclusive di-photon and di-tau channels from vector boson fusion or associated production. Order one deviations from SM expectations in some of these channels could provide discriminating power among various types of 2HDMs. The ratio of exclusive di-photon to di-tau channels is particularly sensitive to deviations from SM expectations. We also emphasize that deviations from SM expectations in standard Higgs search channels may imply observable signals of non-SM-like Higgs bosons in some of these same channels, in particular in di-photon and di-vector boson channels. The results cataloged here provide a roadmap for interpreting standard Higgs search channels in the context of 2HDMs.

Probing colored particles with photons, leptons, and jets

If pairs of new colored particles are produced at the Large Hadron Collider, determining their quantum numbers, and even discovering them, can be non-trivial. We suggest that valuable information can be obtained by measuring the resonant signals of their near-threshold QCD bound states. If the particles are charged, the resulting signatures include photons and leptons and are sufficiently rich for unambiguously determining their various quantum numbers, including the charge, color representation and spin, and obtaining a precise mass measurement. These signals provide well-motivated benchmark models for resonance searches in the dijet, photon+jet, diphoton and dilepton channels. While these measurements require that the lifetime of the new particles be not too short, the resulting limits, unlike those from direct searches for pair production above threshold, do not depend on the particles' decay modes. These limits may be competitive with more direct searches if the particles decay in an obscure way.

Reproducing the Higgs boson data with vector-like quarks

Vector-Like (VL) quarks arise in the main alternatives to the supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model (SM). Given the experimental possibility of a 125 GeV Higgs boson with rates significantly different from the SM expectations, it is motivating to study the effects of VL quarks on the Higgs boson cross sections and branching ratios. We perform a systematic search for the minimal field contents and gauge group representations of VL quarks able to significantly improve the fit of the measured Higgs rates, and simultaneously, to satisfy the direct constraints on VL quark masses as well as the electro-weak precision tests. In particular, large enhancements can be achieved in certain diphoton channels – as pointed out by both the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations – optimizing then the Higgs rate fit. This is a consequence of the introduction of VL quarks, with high electric charges of 8/3 or −7/3, which are exchanged in the Higgs-to-diphoton loop. Interestingly, the field contents and formal Higgs couplings obtained here are similar to those of scenarios in warped/composite frameworks arising from different motivations. The various exotic-charge quarks predicted, possibly below the TeV scale, might lead to a rich phenomenology soon at the LHC.

Higgs after the discovery: a status report

Recently, the ATLAS and CMS collaborations have announced the discovery of a 125 GeV particle, commensurable with the Higgs boson. We analyze the 2011 and 2012 LHC and Tevatron Higgs data in the context of simplified new physics models, paying close attention to models which can enhance the diphoton rate and allow for a natural weak-scale theory. Combining the available LHC and Tevatron data in the ZZ* 4-lepton, WW* 2-lepton, diphoton, and b-bbar channels, we derive constraints on the effective low-energy theory of the Higgs boson. We map several simplified scenarios to the effective theory, capturing numerous new physics models such as supersymmetry, composite Higgs, dilaton. We further study models with extended Higgs sectors which can naturally enhance the diphoton rate. We find that the current Higgs data are consistent with the Standard Model Higgs boson and, consequently, the parameter space in all models which go beyond the Standard Model is highly constrained.

Discovering the 125 GeV techni-dilaton at the LHC

Techni-dilaton (TD) is predicted in walking technicolor (WTC) arising as a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson associated with the approximate scale symmetry spontaneously broken by techni-fermion condensation. The TD mass is therefore smaller than those of other techni-hadrons on order of several TeVs, small enough to be within reach of the current LHC search. We present a new method to derive the TD couplings directly from the Ward-Takahashi identities, which enables us to explicitly calculate the quantities relevant to the TD LHC signatures. To set definite benchmarks, we take one-doublet and one-family models of WTC and discuss the TD signatures at LHC, in comparison with those of the standard model (SM) Higgs. It is shown that the TD in the one-doublet model is invisible at the LHC, while the TD signals in the one-family model can be found as a large excess relative to the SM Higgs at around 125 GeV only in the diphoton channel.

125 GeV Higgs boson in the NMSSM in light of the LHC results and astrophysics constraints

Recent LHC data suggest an excess in the Higgs decay channels into $\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\gamma}$ and $ZZ$ at $\ensuremath{\sim}125\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$. The current excess in the diphoton channel is twice that expected from a standard model (SM) Higgs boson; while this may well change with more statistics, it is interesting to consider the implications should the result persist. Here, we assess whether the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model with a neutralino dark matter candidate could explain this excess when astrophysical constraints (e.g., no overproduction of gamma rays and radio emission in the galaxy, no anomalous excess in the dark matter direct detection experiments, and no dark matter overabundance) are imposed on the neutralino. This enables us to disregard unphysical regions of the parameter space even though the Higgs signal is compatible with the observed excess. The result of our analysis is that there are configurations of the parameter space that can explain the signal strength reported by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations for a Higgs mass within the required range. Should the observed signal strength finally be compatible with SM expectations, it would be difficult to distinguish between the discovery of SM Higgs boson and a SM-like Higgs boson from the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model, unless one performs dedicated searches of very light Higgs bosons and possibly investigates peculiar signatures of supersymmetric particles. We also propose a new $\mathrm{\text{jets}}+\mathrm{\text{missing}}$ ${E}_{T}$ signal for the case where the lightest supersymmetric particle is a singlino-like neutralino.

Constraints on new scalars from the LHC 125 GeV Higgs signal

We study the implications the recent results from the LHC Higgs searches have on scalar new physics. We study the impact on both the Higgs production and decay from scalars with and without colour, and in cases where decoupling do and do not happen. We investigate possible constraints on scalar parameters from the production rate in the diphoton channel, and also the two vector boson channels. Measurements from both channels can help disentangle new physics due to colour from that due to charge, and thus reveal the nature of the new scalar states.

Techni-dilaton at 125 GeV

Walking technicolor predicts a light composite scalar, techni-dilaton, arising as a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson for the approximate scale symmetry spontaneously broken by techni-fermion condensation. We show that a light techni-dilaton with mass of around 125 GeV can explain presently observed excesses particularly in the di-photon decay channel at LHC.

Higgs boson decay into 2 photons in the type II Seesaw model

Abstract We study the two photon decay channel of the Standard Model-like component of the CP-even Higgs bosons present in the type II Seesaw Model. The corresponding cross-section is found to be significantly enhanced in parts of the parameter space, due to the (doubly-)charged Higgs bosons’ (H ±±)H ± virtual contributions, while all the other Higgs decay channels remain Standard Model(SM)-like. In other parts of the parameter space H ±± (and H ±) interfere destructively, reducing the two photon branching ratio tremendously below the SM prediction. Such properties allow to account for any excess such as the one reported by ATLAS/CMS at ≈ 125 GeV if confirmed by future data; if not, for the fact that a SM-like Higgs exclusion in the diphoton channel around 114-115 GeV as reported by ATLAS, does not contradict a SM-like Higgs at LEP(!), and at any rate, for the fact that ATLAS/CMS exclusion limits put stringent lower bounds on the H ±± mass, particularly in the parameter space regions where the direct limits from same-sign leptonic decays of H ±± do not apply.