Gluon Fusion Process Research Articles

Approaching robust EFT limits for CP violation in the Higgs sector

Constraining CP-violating interactions in effective field theory (EFT) of dimension six faces two challenges. Firstly, degeneracies in the multi-dimensional space of Wilson coefficients have to be lifted. Secondly, quadratic contributions of CP-odd dimension six operators are difficult to disentangle from squared contributions of CP-even dimension six operators and from linear contributions of dimension eight operators. Both of these problems are present when new sources of CP-violation are present in the interactions between the Higgs boson and heavy strongly-interacting fermions. We show that degeneracies in the Wilson coefficients can be removed by combining measurements of Higgs-plus-two-jet production via gluon fusion with measurements of top-pair associated Higgs production. In addition, we demonstrate that the sensitivity of the analysis can be improved by exploiting the top-quark threshold in the gluon fusion process. Finally, we substantiate a perturbative argument about the validity of EFT by comparing the quadratic and linear contributions from CP-odd dimension six operators and use this to show explicitly that high statistics measurements at future colliders enable the extraction of perturbatively robust constraints on the associated Wilson coefficients.

Electroweak corrections in the 2HDM for neutral scalar Higgs-boson production through gluon fusion

We have computed the two-loop, electroweak corrections to the production of a light and a heavy neutral, scalar Higgs-boson through the important gluon fusion process in the Two-Higgs-Doublet Model. We provide our results in various renormalization schemes for different scenarios and benchmark points, which will be valuable for experimental studies at the LHC. We describe the technicalities of our two-loop calculation and augment it by a phenomenological discussion. Our results are also applicable to the gluonic neutral, scalar Higgs-boson decays.

Search for a heavy Higgs boson decaying into a Z boson and another heavy Higgs boson in the ℓℓbb final state in pp collisions at [formula omitted] TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for a heavy neutral Higgs boson, A, decaying into a Z boson and another heavy Higgs boson, H, is performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 from proton–proton collisions at s=13 TeV recorded in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search considers the Z boson decaying to electrons or muons and the H boson into a pair of b-quarks. No evidence for the production of an A boson is found. Considering each production process separately, the 95% confidence-level upper limits on the pp→A→ZH production cross-section times the branching ratio H→bb are in the range of 14–830 fb for the gluon–gluon fusion process and 26–570 fb for the b-associated process for the mass ranges 130–700 GeV of the H boson and 230–800 GeV of the A boson. The results are interpreted in the context of two-Higgs-doublet models.

Reconstruction of top-quark mass effects in Higgs pair production and other gluon-fusion processes

We propose a novel method for the treatment of top-quark mass effects in the production of H(∗), HH, HZ and ZZ final states in gluon fusion. We show that it is possible to reconstruct the full top-quark mass dependence of the virtual amplitudes from the corresponding large-mt expansion and the non-analytic part of the amplitude near the top-quark threshold ŝ = 4mt2 with a Padé ansatz. The reliability of our method is clearly demonstrated by a comparison with the recent NLO result for Higgs pair production with full top-quark mass dependence.

Two Higgs bosons near 125 GeV in the NMSSM: beyond the narrow width approximation

In the next-to-minimal supersymmetric (NMS) Standard Model (SM), it is possible for either one of the additional singlet-like scalar and pseudoscalar Higgs bosons to be almost degenerate in mass with the sim 125 GeV SM-like Higgs state. In the real NMSSM (rNMSSM), when the mass difference between two scalar states is comparable to their individual total decay widths, the quantum mechanical interference, due to the relevant diagonal as well as off-diagonal terms in the propagator matrix, between them can become sizeable. This possibility invalidates usage of the narrow width approximation (NWA) to compute the cross section for the production of a di-photon pair with a given invariant mass via resonant Higgs boson(s) in the gluon fusion process at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). When, motivated by the baryon asymmetry of the universe, CP-violating (CPV) phases are explicitly invoked in the Higgs sector of the NMSSM, all the interaction eigenstates mix to give five CP-indefinite physical Higgs bosons. In this scenario, the interference effects due to the off-diagonal terms in the Higgs mass matrix that mix the pseudoscalar-like state with the SM-like one can also become significant, when these two are sufficiently mass-degenerate. We perform a detailed analysis, in both the real and complex NMSSM, of these interference effects, when the full propagator matrix is taken into account, in the production of a photon pair with an invariant mass near 125 GeV through gluon fusion. We find that these effects can account for up to sim 40% of the total cross section for certain model parameter configurations. We also investigate how such mutually interfering states contributing to the sim 125 GeV signal observed at the LHC can be distinguished from a single resonance.

Phenomenology of on-shell Higgs production in the MSSM with complex parameters

A computation of inclusive cross sections for neutral Higgs boson production through gluon fusion and bottom-quark annihilation is presented in the MSSM with complex parameters. The predictions for the gluon-fusion process are based on an explicit calculation of the leading-order cross section for arbitrary complex parameters which is supplemented by higher-order corrections: massive top- and bottom-quark contributions at NLO QCD, in the heavy top-quark effective theory the top-quark contribution up to N^{3}LO QCD including a soft expansion for the mathcal {CP}-even component of the light Higgs boson. For its mathcal {CP}-odd component and the heavy Higgs bosons the contributions are incorporated up to NNLO QCD. Two-loop electroweak effects are also incorporated, and SUSY QCD corrections at NLO are interpolated from the MSSM with real parameters. Finite wave function normalisation factors ensuring correct on-shell properties of the external Higgs bosons are incorporated from the code FeynHiggs. For the typical case of a strong admixture of the two heavy Higgs bosons it is demonstrated that squark effects are strongly dependent on the phases of the complex parameters. The remaining theoretical uncertainties for cross sections are discussed. The results have been implemented into an extension of the numerical code SusHi called SusHiMi.

Search for Higgs boson off-shell production in proton-proton collisions at 7 and 8 TeV and derivation of constraints on its total decay width

A search is presented for the Higgs boson off-shell production in gluon fusion and vector boson fusion processes with the Higgs boson decaying into a W+W- pair and the W bosons decaying leptonically. The data observed in this analysis are used to constrain the Higgs boson total decay width. The analysis is based on the data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 4.9 inverse femtobarns at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and 19.4 inverse femtobarns at 8 TeV, respectively. An observed (expected) upper limit on the off-shell Higgs boson event yield normalised to the standard model prediction of 2.4 (6.2) is obtained at the 95% CL for the gluon fusion process and of 19.3 (34.4) for the vector boson fusion process. Observed and expected limits on the total width of 26 and 66 MeV are found, respectively, at the 95% confidence level (CL). These limits are combined with the previous result in the ZZ channel leading to observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on the width of 13 and 26 MeV, respectively.

Threshold enhancement of diphoton resonances

The data collected by the LHC collaborations at an energy of 13 TeV indicates the presence of an excess in the diphoton spectrum that would correspond to a resonance of a 750 GeV mass. The apparently large production cross section is nevertheless very difficult to explain in minimal models. We consider the possibility that the resonance is a pseudoscalar boson $A$ with a two--photon decay mediated by a charged and uncolored fermion having a mass at the $\frac12 M_A$ threshold and a very small decay width, $\ll 1$ MeV; one can then generate a large enhancement of the $A\gamma\gamma$ amplitude which explains the excess without invoking a large multiplicity of particles propagating in the loop, large electric charges and/or very strong Yukawa couplings. The implications of such a threshold enhancement are discussed in two explicit scenarios: i) the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model in which the $A$ state is produced via the top quark mediated gluon fusion process and decays into photons predominantly through loops of charginos with masses close to $\frac12 M_A$ and ii) a two Higgs doublet model in which $A$ is again produced by gluon fusion but decays into photons through loops of vector--like charged heavy leptons. We also comment on a minimal scenario in which the $A$ state couples only to photons through a heavy lepton loop and is both produced and decays through this coupling. In all these scenarios, while the mass of the charged fermion has to be adjusted to be extremely close to half of the $A$ resonance mass, the small total widths are naturally obtained if only suppressed three-body decay channels occur. Finally, the implications of some of these scenarios for dark matter are discussed.

Supersoft SUSY models and the 750 GeV diphoton excess, beyond effective operators

We propose that the sbino, the scalar partner of a Dirac bino can explain the 750 GeV diphoton excess observed by ATLAS and CMS . We analyze a model in which the sbino couples to pairs of Standard Model (SM) gauge bosons. We analyze an effective operator model, as well as a completion in which the sbino couples to pairs of gauge bosons through loops of heavy sfermions. We find that the sbino may be given an appreciable decay width through tree level coupling in the Higgs or Higgsino sector and additionally fit the 750 GeV excess by considering gluon fusion processes with decay to diphotons.

Drell-Yan process as an avenue to test a noncommutative standard model at the Large Hadron Collider

We study the Drell-Yan process at the Large Hadron Collider in presence of the noncommutative extension of standard model. Using the Seiberg-Witten map, we calculate the production cross-section to the first order in the noncommutative parameter $\Theta_{\mu\nu}$. Although this idea is evolving for long, limited amount of phenomenological analysis was done so far and dominantly in the context of linear collider. Some outstanding feature from this non-minimal noncommutative standard model not only modify the couplings over SM production channel, also allow additional nonstandard vertices which can play a significant role. Hence in the Drell-Yan process, as studied in present analysis, one also needs to account for gluon fusion process at the tree level. Some of the characteristic signatures such as oscillatory azimuthal distributions are outcome of the momentum dependent effective couplings. We explore the noncommutative scale $\Lambda_{NC} \ge 0.4~\rm{TeV}$ considering different machine energy ranging from $7~\rm{TeV}$ to $13~\rm{TeV}$.

The Higgs transverse momentum distribution in gluon fusion as a multiscale problem

We consider Higgs production in gluon fusion and in particular the prediction of the Higgs transverse momentum distribution. We discuss the ambiguities affecting the matching procedure between fixed order matrix elements and the resummation to all orders of the terms enhanced by $\log(p_T^H/m_H)$ factors. Following a recent proposal (Grazzini et al., hep-ph/1306.4581), we argue that the gluon fusion process, computed considering two active quark flavors, is a multiscale problem from the point of view of the resummation of the collinear singular terms. We perform an analysis at parton level of the collinear behavior of the $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s)$ real emission amplitudes; relying on the collinear singularities structure of the latter, we derive an upper limit to the range of transverse momenta where the collinear approximation is valid. This scale is then used as the value of the resummation scale in the analytic resummation framework or as the value of the $h$ parameter in the POWHEG-BOX code. A variation of this scale can be used to generate an uncertainty band associated to the matching procedure. Finally, we provide a phenomenological analysis in the Standard Model, in the Two Higgs Doublet Model and in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. In the two latter cases, we provide an ansatz for the central value of the matching parameters not only for a Standard Model-like Higgs boson, but also for heavy scalars and in scenarios where the bottom quark may play the dominant role.

Results on longitudinal spin physics at COMPASS

The COMPASS experiment at the CERN SPS has taken data on deep inelastic scattering of polarised muons on a polarised NH3 target in 2007 and 2011 and on a polarised LiD target in 2002–2004 and 2006. The new results on the longitudinal double spin asymmetry A 1 p and the spin-dependent structure function g 1 p obtained from the 2011 data set are presented. These results are used in a NLO QCD fit to the world data to obtain the polarised parton distributions. Also an update of the results on the Bjorken sum rule, connecting the integral of the non-singlet spin-dependent structure function with the ratio of the weak coupling constants, will be given.Direct access to the gluon polarisation is possible via the photon gluon fusion process in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering. This process is studied using the p T dependence of charged hadron asymmetries. The latest results indicate a positive gluon polarisation in the kinematic region of COMPASS

Results on longitudinal spin physics at COMPASS

The COMPASS experiment at the CERN SPS has taken data for deep inelastic scattering of polarised muons off a polarised NH3 target in 2007 and 2011 and off a polarised 6LiD target in 2002–2004 and 2006.We present our new results on the longitudinal double spin asymmetry A1p and the spin-dependent structure function g1p obtained from the 2011 data set. These results are used in a NLO QCD fit to the world data to obtain the polarised parton distributions. Also an update on our results on the Bjorken sum rule, connecting the integral of the non-singlet spin-dependent structure function with the ratio of the weak coupling constants, is given.The gluon polarisation can be accessed directly via the photon gluon fusion process in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering. This process is studied using the pT dependence of charged hadron asymmetries. The latest results indicate a positive gluon polarisation in the kinematic region of COMPASS.

750 GeV diphoton resonance in a top and bottom seesaw model

The top/bottom seesaw model, which extends the top seesaw in order to accomodate a 125 GeV Higgs boson, predicts vector-like top/bottom partners and these partners can be bounded to form several neutral and charged singlet composite scalars by some new strong dynamics. In this letter, we use such a singlet scalar to interpret the 750 GeV diphoton reseanance. This singlet scalar is dominantly produced through the gluon fusion process induced by the partners and its diphoton decay is induced by both the partners and the charged singlet scalars. We show that this scenario can readily account for the observed 750 GeV diphoton signal under the current LHC constraints. Further, this scenario predicts some other phenomenology, such as a strong correlation between the decays to $\gamma\gamma$, $Z \gamma$ and $ZZ$, a three-photon singal from the associate production of a singlet scalar and a photon, as well as some signals from the partner cascade decays. These signals may jointly allow for a test of this framework in future LHC and ILC experiments.

Search for neutral MSSM Higgs bosons decaying to μ+μ− in pp collisions at [formula omitted

A search for neutral Higgs bosons predicted in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) for μ+μ− decay channels is presented. The analysis uses data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in proton–proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 5.1 and 19.3 fb−1, respectively. The search is sensitive to Higgs bosons produced either through the gluon fusion process or in association with a bb‾ quark pair. No statistically significant excess is observed in the μ+μ− mass spectrum. Results are interpreted in the framework of several benchmark scenarios, and the data are used to set an upper limit on the MSSM parameter tan⁡β as a function of the mass of the pseudoscalar A boson in the range from 115 to 300 GeV. Model independent upper limits are given for the product of the cross section and branching fraction for gluon fusion and b quark associated production at s=8 TeV. They are the most stringent limits obtained to date in this channel.

CP-Violation in Top Quark Pair Production in the Complex MSSM at Hadron Colliders

We study possible CP violating effects due to the one loop corrections to the top quark pair production in the Complex MSSM with minimal flavor violation (MFV) at hadron colliders. We calculate the complete SUSY Electroweak and SUSY QCD corrections to the two main production mechanisms, namely: the quark-antiquark annihilation and the gluon fusion processes. At the top quark level, we study the spin-spin correlating observables that may be sensitive to the CP violating phases presented in the Complex MFV-MSSM. We present here the main results at the parton level, in particular the SUSY QCD contributions, which are the most important ones.

Observation and measurement of Higgs boson decays toWW*with the ATLAS detector

We report the observation of Higgs boson decays to $WW^{\ast}$ based on an excess over background of $6.1$ standard deviations in the dilepton final state, where the Standard Model expectation is $5.8$ standard deviations. Evidence for the vector-boson fusion (VBF) production process is obtained with a significance of 3.2 standard deviations. The results are obtained from a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $25\,\textrm{fb}^{-1}$ from $\sqrt{s}=7$ and 8 TeV $pp$ collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. For a Higgs boson mass of 125.36 GeV, the ratio of the measured value to the expected value of the total production cross section times branching fraction is $1.09^{+0.16}_{-0.15}\,\textrm{(stat)}^{+0.17}_{-0.14}\,\textrm{(syst)}$. The corresponding ratios for the gluon fusion and vector-boson fusion production mechanisms are $1.02\pm 0.19\,\textrm{(stat)}^{+0.22}_{-0.18}\,\textrm{(syst)}$ and $1.27^{+0.44}_{-0.40}\,\textrm{(stat)}^{+0.30}_{-0.21}\,\textrm{(syst)}$, respectively. At $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV, the total production cross sections are measured to be $\sigma(gg\to$ $H\rightarrow WW^\ast) = 4.6\pm0.9\,\textrm{(stat)}\,^{+0.8}_{-0.7}\,\textrm{(syst)}\textrm{pb}$ and $\sigma(\textrm{VBF}$ $H\rightarrow WW^\ast) = 0.51\,^{+0.17}_{-0.15}\,\textrm{(stat)}\,^{+0.13}_{-0.08}\,\textrm{(syst)}\textrm{pb}$. The fiducial cross section is determined for the gluon-fusion process in exclusive final states with zero or one associated jet.

Hadronic Higgs production through NLO[Formula: see text]PSin the SM, the 2HDMand the MSSM.

The next-to-leading order (NLO) cross section of the gluon fusion process is matched to parton showers in the MC@NLO approach. We work in the framework of MadGraph5_aMC@NLO and document the inclusion of the full quark-mass dependence in the Standard Model (SM) as well as the state-of-the-art squark and gluino effects within the Minimal Supersymmetric SM embodied in the program SusHi. The combination of the two programs is realized by a script which is publicly available and whose usage is detailed. We discuss the input cards and the relevant parameter switches. One of our focuses is on the shower scale which is specifically important for gluon-induced Higgs production, particularly in models with enhanced Higgs-bottom Yukawa coupling.

Top-quark production in proton–nucleus and nucleus–nucleus collisions at LHC energies and beyond

Single and pair top-quark production in proton–lead (p–Pb) and lead–lead (Pb–Pb) collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and Future Circular Collider (FCC) energies, are studied with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations including nuclear parton distribution functions. At the LHC, the pair-production cross sections amount to σtt¯=3.4 μb in Pb–Pb at sNN=5.5 TeV, and σtt¯=60 nb in p–Pb at sNN=8.8 TeV. At the FCC energies of sNN=39 and 63 TeV, the same cross sections are factors of 90 and 55 times larger respectively. In the leptonic final-state tt¯→W+bW−b¯→bb¯ℓℓνν with ℓ=e±,μ±, after typical acceptance and efficiency cuts, one expects about 90 and 300 top-quarks per nominal LHC-year and 4.7⋅104 and 105 per FCC-year in Pb–Pb and p–Pb collisions respectively. The total tt¯ cross sections, dominated by gluon fusion processes, are enhanced by 3–8% in nuclear compared to p–p collisions due to an overall net gluon antishadowing, although different regions of their differential distributions are depleted due to shadowing or EMC-effect corrections. The rapidity distributions of the decay leptons in tt¯ processes can be used to reduce the uncertainty on the Pb gluon density at high virtualities by up to 30% at the LHC (full heavy-ion programme), and by 70% per FCC-year. The cross sections for single-top production in electroweak processes are also computed, yielding about a factor of 30 smaller number of measurable top-quarks after cuts, per system and per year.

The study of QCD in high pile-up environments: Higgs boson and Drell-Yan production

In the forthcoming high-luminosity phase of the LHC many of the most interesting measurements for precision QCD studies are hampered by large pile-up conditions, especially at not very high transverse momenta. However, with the recently discovered Higgs boson, which couples in the heavy top limit directly to gluons, we have access to a novel production process to probe QCD by a colour-singlet current. In this study we compare observables in Higgs boson and Drell-Yan production and investigate whether measuring ratios or subtractions can yield results that are stable in high pile-up environments, and yet sensitive to (small-p T ) QCD physics in gluon fusion processes. We present results of Monte Carlo event generator calculations for a few specific examples.