Supersymmetric Exotic Decays of the 125 GeV Higgs Boson

Supersymmetric Exotic Decays of the 125 GeV Higgs Boson
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Release: 2014
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We reveal a set of novel decay topologies for the 125 GeV Higgs boson in supersymmetry which are initiated by its decay into a pair of neutralinos, and discuss their collider search strategies. This category of exotic Higgs decays are characterized by the collider signature: visible objects + $\mbox{${\not\! E}_{\rm T}$}$, with $\mbox{${\not\! E}_{\rm T}$}$ dominantly arising from escaping dark matter particles. Their benchmark arises naturally in the Peccei-Quinn symmetry limit of the MSSM singlet-extensions, which is typified by the co-existence of three light particles: singlet-like scalar $h_1$ and pseudoscalar $a_1$, and singlino-like neutralino $\chi_1$, all with masses of $\lesssim 10$ GeV, and the generically suppression of the exotic decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson $h_2\to h_1 h_1$, $a_1a_1$ and $\chi_1\chi_1$, however. As an illustration, we study the decay topology: $h_2 \to \chi_1 \chi_2$, where the bino-like $\chi_2$ decays to $h_1 \chi_1$ or $a_1 \chi_1$, and $h_1/a_1 \to f\bar f$, with $f\bar f = \mu^+\mu^-$, $b\bar b$. In the di-muon case ($m_{h_1/a_1} \sim 1$ GeV), a statistical sensitivity of $\frac{S}{\sqrt{B}}> 6 \sigma$ can be achieved easily at the 8 TeV LHC, assuming $\frac{\sigma(pp \rightarrow W h_2)}{\sigma(pp \rightarrow W h_{\rm SM})} {\rm Br}(h_2 \to \mu^+\mu^- \chi_1 \chi_1)=0.1$. In the $b\bar b$ case ($m_{h_1/a_1} \sim 45$ GeV), 600 fb$^{-1}$ data at the 14 TeV LHC can lead to a statistical sensitivity of $\frac{S}{\sqrt{B}}> 5 \sigma$, assuming $\frac{\sigma(pp \rightarrow Z h_2)}{\sigma(pp \rightarrow Z h_{\rm SM})} {\rm Br}(h_2 \to b\bar b \chi_1 \chi_1)=0.5$. These exotic decays open a new avenue for exploring new physics couplings with the 125 GeV Higgs boson at colliders.

A Search for Exotic Higgs Decays

A Search for Exotic Higgs Decays
Author: Jackson Burzynski
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2023-05-23
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3031304667

The absence of new physics at the TeV scale observed thus far at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) motivates an increasing focus on searches for weakly-coupled new particles and exotic signatures. In particular, particles with macroscopic mean proper lifetimes, known as long-lived particles (LLPs), are of significant interest due to their ability to elude the majority of searches which rely on the assumption that Beyond Standard Model particles decay close to the primary interaction point. Many models which aim to solve various issues with the Standard Model (SM) introduce new particles with lifetimes that are either unconstrained, or even shown to prefer the macroscopic regime. These theories often point to the Higgs boson as a possible portal to new physics, with exotic Higgs decays being the primary phenomenological consequence and means of discovery. It is well motivated both from theory and experimental constraints to consider the scenario in which the particles produced in these exotic decays have macroscopic proper lifetimes and give rise to unique detector signatures. This work describes a search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson to two long-lived, neutral, spin-0 particles which subsequently decay to pairs of b quarks, giving the striking signature of displaced hadronic jets in the ATLAS inner detector. Several other ATLAS searches have probed this decay topology previously, excluding branching ratios of the Higgs boson to LLPs of more than 10% for proper lifetimes greater than 100mm. These searches relied on dedicated triggers designed to select events with LLPs decaying in the ATLAS calorimeter or muon spectrometer. The lack of an equivalent trigger for LLP decays in the ATLAS inner detector has been a limiting factor in probing LLP lifetimes less than 100mm. To circumvent the difficulty of triggering on LLP decays, the search presented in this thesis exploits the ZH associated production mode, relying on leptonic trigger signatures to select interesting events. This is the first search for Higgs boson decays into LLPs to exploit this analysis methodology and additionally makes use of several novel methods for both background rejection and background estimation. No excess over Standard Model predictions is observed, and upper limits are set on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to LLPs . Depending on the mass of the LLP, branching ratios greater than 10% are excluded for lifetimes as small as 4mm and as large as 100mm, probing an important gap in the ATLAS exotic Higgs decay programme. In comparison to the previous searches for Higgs decays to LLPs, these are among the most stringent limits placed on this scenario, and for LLPs with masses below 40 GeV these results represent the strongest existing constraints on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to LLPs in this lifetime regime.

Search for Light Bosons in Decays of the 125 GeV Higgs Boson in Proton-proton Collisions at Sqrt(s)

Search for Light Bosons in Decays of the 125 GeV Higgs Boson in Proton-proton Collisions at Sqrt(s)
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Release: 2017
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A search is presented for decays beyond the standard model of the 125 GeV Higgs bosons to a pair of light bosons, based on models with extended scalar sectors. Light boson masses between 5 and 62.5 GeV are probed in final states containing four tau leptons, two muons and two b quarks, or two muons and two tau leptons. The results are from data in proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse-femtobarns, accumulated by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. No evidence for such exotic decays is found in the data. Upper limits are set on the product of the cross section and branching fraction for several signal processes. The results are also compared to predictions of two-Higgs-doublet models, including those with an additional scalar singlet.

Search for Exotic Decays of a Higgs Boson Into Undetectable Particles and One Or More Photons

Search for Exotic Decays of a Higgs Boson Into Undetectable Particles and One Or More Photons
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 26
Release: 2015
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ISBN:

A search is presented for exotic decays of a Higgs boson into undetectable particles and one or two isolated photons in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of up to 19.4 inverse femtobarns collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. Higgs bosons produced in gluon-gluon fusion and in association with a Z boson are investigated, using models in which the Higgs boson decays into a gravitino and a neutralino or a pair of neutralinos, followed by the decay of the neutralino to a gravitino and a photon. The selected events are consistent with the background-only hypothesis, and limits are placed on the product of cross sections and branching fractions. Assuming a standard model Higgs boson production cross section, a 95% confidence level upper limit is set on the branching fraction of a 125 GeV Higgs boson decaying into undetectable particles and one or two isolated photons as a function of the neutralino mass. For this class of models and neutralino masses from 1 to 120 GeV an upper limit in the range of 7 to 13% is obtained. Further results are given as a function of the neutralino lifetime, and also for a range of Higgs boson masses.

Implications of Gauge-mediated Supersymmetry Breaking with Vector-like Quarks and a 1̃25 GeV Higgs Boson

Implications of Gauge-mediated Supersymmetry Breaking with Vector-like Quarks and a 1̃25 GeV Higgs Boson
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Total Pages: 32
Release: 2012
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We investigate the implications of models that achieve a Standard Model-like Higgs boson of mass near 125 GeV by introducing additional TeV-scale supermultiplets in the vector-like 10+\bar representation of SU(5), within the context of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. We study the resulting mass spectrum of superpartners, comparing and contrasting to the usual gauge-mediated and CMSSM scenarios, and discuss implications for LHC supersymmetry searches. This approach implies that exotic vector-like fermions t'_{1,2}, b', and \tau' should be within the reach of the LHC. We discuss the masses, the couplings to electroweak bosons, and the decay branching ratios of the exotic fermions, with and without various unification assumptions for the mass and mixing parameters. We comment on LHC prospects for discovery of the exotic fermion states, both for decays that are prompt and non-prompt on detector-crossing time scales.

New Observables for $CP$ Violation in Higgs Decays

New Observables for $CP$ Violation in Higgs Decays
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Release: 2014
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Current experimental data on the 125 GeV Higgs boson still allow room for large $CP$ violation. The observables usually considered in this context are triple product asymmetries, which require an input of four visible particles after imposing momentum conservation. Here, we point out a new class of $CP$ -violating observables in Higgs physics which require only three reconstructed momenta. They may arise if the process involves an interference of amplitudes with different intermediate particles, which provide distinct "strong phases" in the form of the Breit-Wigner widths, in addition to possible "weak phases" that arise from $CP$ -violating couplings of the Higgs in the Lagrangian. As an example, we propose a forward-backward asymmetry of the charged lepton in the three-body Higgs decay, h 2!l $-$ l + [gamma], as a probe for $CP$ -violating Higgs couplings to Z[gamma] and [gamma][gamma] pairs. In conclusion, we also discuss other processes exhibiting this type of $CP$ violation.