Higgs Boson Decay Research Articles

Charged Higgs-boson decays into quarks

We consider the full genuine next-to-leading order SUSY–QCD corrections to the charged Higgs decays into quarks supplemented by the NNLO corrections to the effective top and bottom Yukawa couplings. The NNLO corrections to the effective top Yukawa coupling are a new ingredient of our analysis. We arrive at an approximate NNLO prediction for MSSM charged Higgs decays after including the N4LO QCD corrections for large charged Higgs masses. The residual uncertainties are in the percent range or below, depending on the particular MSSM scenario.

Measurements of inclusive and differential cross sections for the Higgs boson production and decay to four-leptons in proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

Measurements of the inclusive and differential fiducial cross sections for the Higgs boson production in the H → ZZ → 4ℓ (ℓ = e, μ) decay channel are presented. The results are obtained from the analysis of proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. The measured inclusive fiducial cross section is 2.73 ± 0.26 fb, in agreement with the standard model expectation of 2.86 ± 0.1 fb. Differential cross sections are measured as a function of several kinematic observables sensitive to the Higgs boson production and decay to four leptons. A set of double-differential measurements is also performed, yielding a comprehensive characterization of the four leptons final state. Constraints on the Higgs boson trilinear coupling and on the bottom and charm quark coupling modifiers are derived from its transverse momentum distribution. All results are consistent with theoretical predictions from the standard model.

Search for Nonresonant Pair Production of Highly Energetic Higgs Bosons Decaying to Bottom Quarks.

A search for nonresonant Higgs boson (H) pair production via gluon and vector boson (V) fusion is performed in the four-bottom-quark final state, using proton-proton collision data at 13TeV corresponding to 138 fb^{-1} collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The analysis targets Lorentz-boosted H pairs identified using a graph neural network. It constrains the strengths relative to the standard model of the H self-coupling and the quartic VVHH couplings, κ_{2V}, excluding κ_{2V}=0 for the first time, with a significance of 6.3 standard deviations when other H couplings are fixed to their standard model values.

Searches for lepton-flavour-violating decays of the Higgs boson into eτ and μτ in sqrt{s} = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents direct searches for lepton flavour violation in Higgs boson decays, H → eτ and H → μτ, performed using data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The searches are based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy sqrt{s} = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. Leptonic (τ → ℓνℓντ) and hadronic (τ → hadrons ντ) decays of the τ-lepton are considered. Two background estimation techniques are employed: the MC-template method, based on data-corrected simulation samples, and the Symmetry method, based on exploiting the symmetry between electrons and muons in the Standard Model backgrounds. No significant excess of events is observed and the results are interpreted as upper limits on lepton-flavour-violating branching ratios of the Higgs boson. The observed (expected) upper limits set on the branching ratios at 95% confidence level, mathcal{B} (H → eτ) < 0.20% (0.12%) and mathcal{B} (H → μτ ) < 0.18% (0.09%), are obtained with the MC-template method from a simultaneous measurement of potential H → eτ and H → μτ signals. The best-fit branching ratio difference, mathcal{B} (H → μτ) → mathcal{B} (H → eτ), measured with the Symmetry method in the channel where the τ-lepton decays to leptons, is (0.25 ± 0.10)%, compatible with a value of zero within 2.5σ.

Search for the exotic decay of the Higgs boson into two light pseudoscalars with four photons in the final state in proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

A search for the exotic decay of the Higgs boson to a pair of light pseudoscalars, each of which subsequently decays into a pair of photons, is presented. The search uses data from proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 13 TeV recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC that corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 132 fb−1. The analysis probes pseudoscalar bosons with masses in the range 15–62 GeV, coming from the Higgs boson decay, which leads to four well-isolated photons in the final state. No significant deviation from the background-only hypothesis is observed. Upper limits are set on the product of the Higgs boson production cross section and branching fraction into four photons. The observed (expected) limits range from 0.80 (1.00) fb for a pseudoscalar boson mass of 15 GeV to 0.26 (0.24) fb for a mass of 62 GeV at 95% confidence level.

Search for dark photons from Higgs boson decays via ZH production with a photon plus missing transverse momentum signature from pp collisions at sqrt{s} = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper describes a search for dark photons (γd) in proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The dark photons are searched for in the decay of Higgs bosons (H → γγd) produced through the ZH production mode. The transverse mass of the system, made of the photon and the missing transverse momentum from the non-interacting γd, presents a distinctive signature as it peaks near the Higgs boson mass. The results presented use the total Run-2 integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1 recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The dominant reducible background processes are estimated using data-driven techniques. A Boosted Decision Tree technique is adopted to enhance the sensitivity of the search. As no excess is observed with respect to the Standard Model prediction, an observed (expected) upper limit on the branching ratio BR(H → γγd) of 2.28% ( {2.82}_{-0.84}^{+1.33}% ) is set at 95% CL for massless γd. For massive dark photons up to 40 GeV, the observed (expected) upper limits on BR(H → γγd) at 95% confidence level is found within the [2.19,2.52]% ([2.71,3.11]%) range.

Observability of the Higgs boson decay to a photon and a dark photon

Observability of the Higgs boson decay to a photon and a dark photon

Measurement of the CP properties of Higgs boson interactions with tau -leptons with the ATLAS detector

A study of the charge conjugation and parity (textit{CP}) properties of the interaction between the Higgs boson and tau -leptons is presented. The study is based on a measurement of textit{CP}-sensitive angular observables defined by the visible decay products of tau -leptons produced in Higgs boson decays. The analysis uses 139 fb^{-1} of proton–proton collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt{s}= 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Contributions from textit{CP}-violating interactions between the Higgs boson and tau -leptons are described by a single mixing angle parameter phi _{tau } in the generalised Yukawa interaction. Without constraining the Hrightarrow tau tau signal strength to its expected value under the Standard Model hypothesis, the mixing angle phi _{tau } is measured to be 9^{circ } pm 16^{circ }, with an expected value of 0^{circ } pm 28^{circ } at the 68% confidence level. The pure textit{CP}-odd hypothesis is disfavoured at a level of 3.4 standard deviations. The results are compatible with the predictions for the Higgs boson in the Standard Model.

The parton-level structure of Higgs decays to hadrons at N3LO

We present the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) corrections for Higgs boson decays to hadronic final states at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N3LO) in the strong coupling constant αs. In particular, we consider the Higgs boson decay to massless bottom quarks and the Higgs boson decay to a pair of gluons in the limit of a heavy top quark. The tree-level five-parton, the one-loop four-parton, the two-loop three-parton, and the three-loop two-parton matrix elements are integrated separately over the inclusive phase space and classified by partons appearing in the final state and by colour structure. As a check, we reproduce known results for the inclusive hadronic decay rates at N3LO. We study patterns of infrared singularity cancellation within the colour layers of the integrated expressions and we comment on the similarities between H → boverline{b} and γ∗→ qoverline{q} . We anticipate that our result will be an essential ingredient for the formulation of N3LO subtraction schemes.

Search for light long-lived neutral particles that decay to collimated pairs of leptons or light hadrons in pp collisions at sqrt{s} = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for light long-lived neutral particles with masses in the O(MeV–GeV) range is presented. The analysis targets the production of long-lived dark photons in the decay of a Higgs boson produced via gluon–gluon fusion or in association with a W boson. Events that contain displaced collimated Standard Model fermions reconstructed in the calorimeter or muon spectrometer are selected in 139 fb−1 of sqrt{s} = 13 TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Background estimates for contributions from Standard Model processes and instrumental effects are extracted from data. The observed event yields are consistent with the expected background. Exclusion limits are reported on the production cross-section times branching fraction as a function of the mean proper decay length cτ of the dark photon, or as a function of the dark-photon mass and kinetic mixing parameter that quantifies the coupling between the Standard Model and potential hidden (dark) sectors. A Higgs boson branching fraction above 1% is excluded at 95% CL for a Higgs boson decaying into two dark photons for dark-photon mean proper decay lengths between 10 mm and 250 mm and dark photons with masses between 0.4 GeV and 2 GeV.

Charged Higgs induced 5 and 6 lepton signatures from heavy neutrinos at the LHC

We propose an anomaly free gauged U(1) extension of the SM where three right handed heavy neutrinos, being charged under the general U(1) gauge group, are introduced to explain the origin of the tiny neutrino mass through the seesaw mechanism after the general U(1) symmetry is broken. Due to the breaking of the general U(1) symmetry a neutral beyond the standard model gauge boson Z^prime acquires mass. There are two Higgs doublets in this model where one interacts with the SM fermions and the other one interacts with the right handed heavy neutrinos and charged leptons. The charged multiplet of the second Higgs can completely decay into the heavy neutrinos and charged lepton in the neutrinophilic limit of the model parameters. The charged Higgs pair production can be influenced due to presence of the Z^prime boson at the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) in addition to the neutral SM gauge bosons. The pair produced charged Higgs bosons decay into SM charged leptons and heavy neutrinos. Following the leading decay modes of the heavy neutrinos into charged leptons and W boson we study the 5 and 6 lepton final states after the leptonic and hadronic decay of the W bosons considering solely muons and electrons in the final state. Combining the electron and muon final states we estimate the significance of the 5 and 6 charged lepton processes in the m_{H^pm }-m_N plane for different benchmark points of m_{Z^prime }. It is found that the 5 (6) charged lepton processes could be probed at the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) with at least 5 (3) sigma significance and there are parameter regions where the significance could be larger.

Search for Higgs boson decays to a Z boson and a photon in proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

Results are presented from a search for the Higgs boson decay H → Zγ, where Z → ℓ+ℓ− with ℓ = e or μ. The search is performed using a sample of proton-proton (pp) collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. Events are assigned to mutually exclusive categories, which exploit differences in both event topology and kinematics of distinct Higgs production mechanisms to enhance signal sensitivity. The signal strength μ, defined as the product of the cross section and the branching fraction left[sigma left(textrm{pp}to textrm{H}right)mathcal{B}left(textrm{H}to textrm{Z}upgamma right)right] relative to the standard model prediction, is extracted from a simultaneous fit to the ℓ+ℓ−γ invariant mass distributions in all categories and is measured to be μ = 2.4 ± 0.9 for a Higgs boson mass of 125.38 GeV. The statistical significance of the observed excess of events is 2.7 standard deviations. This measurement corresponds to left[sigma left(textrm{pp}to textrm{H}right)mathcal{B}left(textrm{H}to textrm{Z}upgamma right)right]=0.21pm 0.08 pb. The observed (expected) upper limit at 95% confidence level on μ is 4.1 (1.8), where the expected limit is calculated under the background-only hypothesis. The ratio of branching fractions mathcal{B}left(textrm{H}to textrm{Z}upgamma right)/mathcal{B}left(textrm{H}to upgamma upgamma right) is measured to be {1.5}_{-0.6}^{+0.7} , which agrees with the standard model prediction of 0.69 ± 0.04 at the 1.5 standard deviation level.

Fractional analytic QCD beyond leading order in the timelike region

In this paper we show that, as in the spacelike case, the inverse logarithmic expansion is applicable for all values of the argument of the analytic coupling constant. We present two different approaches, one of which is based primarily on trigonometric functions, and the latter is based on dispersion integrals. The results obtained up to the 5th order of perturbation theory, have a compact form and their acquiring is much easier than the methods that have been used before. As an example, we apply our results to study the Higgs boson decay into a bb pair.

Invisible Higgs boson decay from forward muons at a muon collider

We propose to probe the Higgs boson decay to invisible particles at a muon collider by observing the forward muons that are produced in association with the Higgs in the $Z$-boson fusion channel. An excellent sensitivity is possible in line of principle, owing to the large number of produced Higgs bosons, provided a forward muon detector is installed. We find that the resolution on the measurement of the muon energy and angle will be the main factor limiting the actual sensitivity. This poses tight requirements on the forward muon detector design.

Search for Higgs boson decays into Z and J/ψ and for Higgs and Z boson decays into J/ψ or Y pairs in pp collisions at [formula omitted

Decays of the Higgs boson into a ▪ boson and a ▪ or ▪ meson are searched for in four-lepton final states with the CMS detector at the LHC. A data set of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138fb−1 is used. Using the same data set, decays of the Higgs and ▪ boson into quarkonium pairs are also searched for. An observation of such decays with this sample would indicate the presence of physics beyond the standard model. No evidence for these decays has been observed and upper limits at the 95% confidence level are placed on the corresponding branching fractions (B). Assuming longitudinal polarization of the Higgs boson decay products, 95% confidence level observed upper limits for ▪ and ▪ are 1.9×10−3 and 6.6×10−3, respectively.

Matching and event-shape NNDL accuracy in parton showers

To explore the interplay of NLO matching and next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL) parton showers, we consider the simplest case of γ* and Higgs-boson decays to qoverline{q} and gg respectively. Not only should shower NLL accuracy be retained across observables after matching, but for global event-shape observables and the two-jet rate, matching can augment the shower in such a way that it additionally achieves next-to-next-to-double-logarithmic (NNDL) accuracy, a first step on the route towards general NNLL. As a proof-of-concept exploration of this question, we consider direct application of multiplicative matrix-element corrections, as well as simple implementations of MC@NLO and POWHEG-style matching. We find that the first two straightforwardly bring NNDL accuracy, and that this can also be achieved with POWHEG, although particular care is needed in the handover between POWHEG and the shower. Our study involves both analytic and numerical components and we also touch on some phenomenological considerations.

Probing a light dark sector at future lepton colliders via invisible decays of the SM-like and dark Higgs bosons

A renormalizable UV model for axionlike particles or hidden photons, which may explain the dark matter, usually involves a dark Higgs field, which is a singlet under the standard model (SM) gauge group. The dark sector can couple to the SM particles via the portal coupling between the SM-like Higgs and dark Higgs fields. Through this coupling, the dark sector particles can be produced in either the early Universe or the collider experiments. Interestingly, not only the SM-like Higgs boson can decay into the light dark bosons, but also a light dark Higgs boson may be produced and decay into the dark bosons in a collider. In this paper, we perform the first collider search for invisible decays by taking both the Higgs bosons into account. We use a multivariate technique to best discriminate the signal from the background. We find that a large parameter region can be probed at the International Linear Collider operating at the center-of-mass energy of 250 GeV. In particular, even when the SM-like Higgs invisible decay is a few orders of magnitude below the planned sensitivity reaches of the International Linear Collider and the high luminosity LHC, the scenario can be probed by the invisible decay of the dark Higgs boson produced via a similar diagram. Measuring the dark Higgs boson decay into the dark sector will be a smoking gun signal of the light dark sector. A similar search of the dark sector would be expected in, e.g., the Cool Copper Collider, the Circular Electron Positron Collider, the Compact Linear Collider, and the Future Circular electron-positron Collider.

Relativistic Corrections to the Higgs Boson Decay into a Pair of Vector Quarkonia

We studied different mechanisms in the Higgs boson decay into a pair of J/Ψ and Υ particles within the perturbative Standard Model and relativistic quark model. The relativistic corrections to the decay amplitude and decay width were calculated. We obtained numerical values of the decay widths of the Higgs boson, which can be used for comparison with experimental data.

Higgs boson decay into gluons in a 4D regularization: IR cancellation without evanescent fields to NLO

Higgs decay using an effective Higgs–Yang-Mills interaction in terms of a dimension five operator as well as usual QCD interactions is revisited in the context of Implicit Regularization (IReg) and compared with conventional dimensional regularization (CDR), four dimensional helicity (FDH) and dimensional reduction (DRED) schemes. The decay rate for H rightarrow gg(g) is calculated in this strictly four-dimensional set-up to alpha _s^3 order in the strong coupling. Moreover we include joint processes that contribute at the same perturbative order in the real emission channels consisting of 3 gluons as well as gluon quark–antiquark final states with light (zero mass) quarks. Unambiguous identification and separation of UV from IR divergences is achieved putting at work the renormalization group scale relation inherent to the method. UV singularities are removed as usual by renormalization, the IR divergences are cancelled due to the method’s compliance with the Kinoshita–Lee–Nauenberg (KLN) theorem. Most importantly, we verify that no evanescent fields such as epsilon -scalars need be introduced as required by some mixed regularizations that operate partially in the physical dimension.

Higgs Boson Decay into Gluons: IR Cancellation in the Decay Rate at NLO Using Implicit Regularization

Higgs Boson Decay into Gluons: IR Cancellation in the Decay Rate at NLO Using Implicit Regularization