We investigate the potential of LHC resonance searches in leptonic final states to probe the $Z'$ in the minimal $U(1)_{B-L}$ model. Considering the current constraints on the $Z'$ in terms of its mass $m_{Z'}$ and the associated gauge coupling $g_{B-L}$ as well as constraints in the Higgs sector, we analyse the potential of dilepton and four lepton final states for $Z'$ production. This includes Drell-Yan production, Higgs mediated decays and final state radiation processes concentrating only on the ATLAS and CMS detectors at the LHC. We show that the four-lepton final state is sensitive to $m_{Z'}$ as low as 0.25 GeV. Furthermore, setting the Higgs mixing to $\sinα= 0.3$, this final state has a strong sensitivity and it probes regions of parameter space where the $Z'$ is long-lived. We demonstrate the sensitivity at the High Luminosity LHC and comment on the potential of probing displaced vertices due to long-lived $Z'$. Finally, we also comment on the strength of $Z'$ and Higgs mediated heavy neutrino processes by taking into account the constraints derived.
Stoponium, a bound state of top squark and its antiparticle in a supersymmetric model, may be found in the ongoing Higgs searches at the LHC. Its WW and ZZ detection ratios relative to the Standard Model Higgs boson can be more than unity from WW* threshold to the two Higgs threshold. The gamma gamma channel is equally promising. Some regions of the stoponium mass below 150 GeV are already being probed by the ATLAS and CMS experiments.
The 40 years old Standard Model, the theory of particle physics, seems to describe all experimental data very well. All of its elementary particles were identified and studied apart from the Higgs boson until 2012. For decades many experiments were built and operated searching for it, and finally, the two main experiments of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, CMS and ATLAS, in 2012 observed a new particle with properties close to those predicted for the Higgs boson. In this paper we outline the search story: the exclusion of the Higgs boson at LEP, the Large Electron Positron collider, and its…
We explore the prospect of Yukawa production of a light boson which can exist in an extended Higgs sector. A particularly interesting case is the light pseudoscalar in Type-X two Higgs doublet model which can explain the anomalous magnetic moment of muon at large $\tanβ$. Considering ILC $Higgs$ $factory$ with $\sqrt{s}=250$ GeV, we show that the available parameter space can be fully examined by the (tau) Yukawa process at $5σ$. We also demonstrate the mass reconstruction of such a light particle which helps to sizably minimize the background events.
We study the phenomenology of light spin-0 particles and stress that they can be efficiently searched for at the LHCb experiment in the form of dimuon resonances. Given the large production cross sections in the forward rapidity region together with the efficient triggering and excellent mass resolution, it is argued that LHCb can provide unique sensitivity to such states. We illustrate our proposal using the recent measurement of Upsilon production by LHCb, emphasising the importance of mixing effects in the bottomonium resonance region. The implications for dimuon decays of spin-0 bottomoniu…
We consider LHC searches for dilepton resonances in an intermediate mass range, $\sim 10 -80$ GeV. We adopt a kinetically mixed $Z'$ as an example of weakly coupled new physics that might have evaded detection at previous experiments but which could still be probed by LHC dilepton spectrum measurements in this mass range. Based on Monte Carlo simulations, we estimate that existing data from the 7 and 8 TeV LHC could be used to test values of the kinetic mixing parameter $ε$ several times smaller than precision electroweak upper bounds, were an appropriate analysis to be carried out by one of t…
New phenomena involving pseudorapidity and azimuthal correlations among final state particles in $pp$ collisions at the LHC can hint at the existence of hidden sectors beyond the Standard Model. In this paper we rely on a correlated-cluster picture of multiparticle production, which was shown to account for the ridge effect, to assess the effect of a hidden sector on three-particle correlations concluding that there is a potential signature of new physics that can be directly tested by experiments using well-known techniques.
Methods and ideas to search for new phenomena at existing and future collider facilities like LEPII and the LHC are analysed. Emphasis is put on the experimental aspects of discovery strategies for the Higgs Boson of the Standard Model. This is followed by a critical analysis of search methods for the extended Higgs sector and the direct detection of Supersymmetric Particles within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. We also discuss methods and the potential mass reach of the LHC experiments to discover new Bosons and Fermions.
Doubly-charged Higgs bosons ($Δ^{--}/Δ^{++}$) appear in several extensions to the Standard Model and can be relatively light. We review the theoretical motivation for these states and present a study of the discovery reach in future runs of the Fermilab Tevatron for pair-produced doubly-charged Higgs bosons decaying to like-sign lepton pairs. We also comment on the discovery potential at other future colliders.
We study the collider phenomenology of a simplified model containing a right-handed $W$ in which the $W_R$ couples predominantly to the third generation in the quark sector. The model also includes a light Majorana neutrino, with $M_1\sim {\cal O}(100)$ GeV, giving rise to lepton-number-violating signatures that are visible at the LHC. Taking into account all the searches from the LHC and Tevatron, we find that this $W_R$ can still be as light as $M_R \sim 300$ GeV. We show that this type of new physics, and others like it, can be detected at the LHC using final states with three same-sign sam…
While the triplet-like Higgses up to a few hundred GeV masses are already excluded for a vast region of the model parameter space from the LHC searches, strikingly, there is a region of this parameter space that is beyond the reach of the existing LHC searches, and doubly/singly-charged and neutral Higgses as light as 200 GeV or even lighter are still allowed by the LHC data. We study several search strategies targeting different parts of this LHC elusive parameter space at two configurations of $e^-e^+$ colliders -- 500 GeV and 1 TeV centre of mass energies. We find that a vast region of this…
We advocate for the construction of a new detector element at the LHCb experiment, designed to search for displaced decays of beyond standard model long-lived particles, taking advantage of a large shielded space in the LHCb cavern that is expected to soon become available. We discuss the general features and putative capabilities of such an experiment, as well as its various advantages and complementarities with respect to the existing LHC experiments and proposals such as SHiP and MATHUSLA. For two well-motivated beyond Standard Model benchmark scenarios -- Higgs decay to dark photons and $B…
The LHC discovery of a light Higgs particle $h^0$ (125GeV) opens up new prospect for searching heavier Higgs boson(s) at the LHC Run-2, which will unambiguously point to new physics beyond the standard model (SM). We study the detection of a heavier neutral Higgs boson $H^0$ via di-Higgs production channel at the LHC (14TeV), $H^0 \to h^0h^0 \to WW^*γγ$. This directly probes the $Hhh$ cubic Higgs interaction, which exists in most extensions of the SM Higgs sector. For the decay products of final states $WW^*$, we include both pure leptonic mode $WW^* \to \ell\barν\bar{\ell}ν$ and semi-leptonic…
We explore strategies for probing Hidden Valley scenarios exhibiting confinement. Such scenarios lead to a multiplicity of light hidden hadrons from showering processes. Their decays are typically soft and displaced, making them challenging to probe with traditional LHC searches. We show the low trigger thresholds and excellent track and vertex reconstruction at LHCb provide an ideal environment to search for such signals -- in both muonic and hadronic channels. We also explore the potential of ATLAS/CMS and discuss modifications to present searches that might make these experiments competitiv…
We propose leveraging our proficiency for detecting Higgs resonances by using the Higgs as a tagging object for new heavy physics. In particular, we argue that searches for exotic Higgs production from decays of color-singlet fields with electroweak charges could beat current searches at the LHC which look for their decays to vectors. As an example, we study the production and decay of vector-like leptons which admit Yukawa couplings with SM leptons. We find that bounds from Run 2 searches are consistent with anywhere from hundreds to many thousands of Higgses having been produced in their dec…
In the context of two-Higgs doublet models, we explore the possibility of searching for heavy Higgs bosons in the $t \bar t Z$ and $t bW$ final states. We develop realistic analyses strategies and in the case of the $t \bar t Z$ channel provide a detailed evaluation of the new-physics reach at the 14 TeV LHC. We find that already with an integrated luminosity of $300 \, {\rm fb}^{-1}$ searches for the $t \bar t Z$ signature can provide statistically significant constraints at low values of $\tan β$ for heavy Higgs masses in the range from around $450 \, {\rm GeV}$ to $1150 \, {\rm GeV}$. Futur…
We study the production of a heavy charged Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in $gb\to H^{-} t$ within a Two Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM). The chiral structure of the $H^{-} t \bar{b}$ coupling can trigger a particular spin state of the top quark produced in the decay of a charged Higgs boson and, therefore, is sensitive to the underlying mechanism of the Electro-Weak Symmetry Breaking (EWSB). Taking two benchmark models (2HDM type-I and 2HDM type-Y) as an example, we show that inclusive rates, differential distributions as well as forward-backward asymmetries of the top quark's dec…
We investigate the discovery potential of light color-octet bosons in the mass range of 100 - 400 GeV in exclusive top-pair plus jet production at the LHC. We study the impact of such bosons on the incline, the energy and the rapidity asymmetries. We show that light axigluons with large couplings to quarks can be discovered at the LHC with a luminosity of a few inverse fb. Almost all of the considered axigluon parameter space can be probed using the already available 2011/2012 LHC data. In a small-coupling scenario, axigluons could be discovered using the charge asymmetry with 65 inverse fb at…
We study the signals for a "fermiophobic" charged Higgs boson present in an extension of the standard model with an additional Higgs doublet and right handed neutrinos, responsible for generating Dirac-type neutrino masses. We study the pair production of the charged Higgs at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which can be relatively light and still allowed by experimental data. The charged Higgs decays dominantly into a $W$ boson and a very light neutral scalar present in the model, which decays invisibly and passes undetected. We find that the signal for such a charged Higgs is overwhelmed by …
The search for evidence of extended electroweak symmetry breaking has entered a new phase with the discovery of a Standard Model (SM)-like Higgs at the LHC. The measurement of Higgs couplings and direct searches for additional scalars provide complementary avenues for the discovery of new degrees of freedom. This complementarity is particularly sharp in two Higgs doublet models (2HDMs) where the couplings of the SM-like Higgs may be directly related to the LHC signals of additional scalars. In this work we develop a strategy for searching for the second Higgs doublet given the LHC signals of t…
We have reconsidered the Higgs boson search via the "golden mode" for Tevatron. It is shown that this mode will give opportunity to observe the Higgs boson with mass up to 300 GeV before Tevatron shutdown.
Completely natural electroweak symmetry breaking is easily achieved in supersymmetric models if there is a SM-like Higgs boson, $h$, with $m_h\lsim 100\gev$. In the minimal supersymmetric model, such an $h$ decays mainly to $b\anti b$ and is ruled out by LEP constraints. However, if the MSSM Higgs sector is expanded so that $h$ decays mainly to still lighter Higgs bosons, e.g. $h\to aa$, with $BR(h\to aa)>0.7$, and if $m_a<2m_b$, then the LEP constraints are satisfied. In this letter, we show that in the next-to-minimal supersymmetric model the above $h$ and $a$ properties (for the lightest CP…
We show prospects on a search for invisible decays of a Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). This search is performed on a Higgs boson produced in association with a Z boson. We expect that the branching ratio of 17-22% (6-14%) could be excluded at 95% confidence level with 300 fb^{-1} (3000 fb^{-1}) of data at sqrt(s)=14 TeV. The range indicates different assumptions on the control of systematic uncertainties. Interpretations with Higgs-portal dark matter models are also considered.
Leptonic decays of vector-states of bottomonium are analized searching for a light pseudoscalar Higgs-like neutral boson manifesting via an apparent breaking of lepton universality.
Despite the discovery of the Higgs boson decay in five separate channels many parameters of the Higgs boson remain largely unconstrained. In this paper, we present a new approach to constraining the Higgs total width by requiring the Higgs to be resolved as a single high p$_T$ jet and measuring the inclusive Higgs boson cross section. To measure the inclusive Higgs boson cross section, we rely on new approaches from machine learning and a modified jet reconstruction. This approach is found to be complementary to the existing off-shell width measurement and, with the full HL-LHC luminosity, is …
We assume that the 125 GeV Higgs discovered at the LHC is the heavy CP-even Higgs of the two-Higgs-doublet models, and examine the parameter space in the Type-I, Type-II, Lepton-specific and Flipped models allowed by the latest Higgs signal data, the relevant experimental and theoretical constraints. Further, we show the projected limits on $\tanβ$, $\sin(β-α)$, $Hf\bar{f}$ and $HVV$ couplings from the future measurements of the 125 GeV Higgs at the LHC and ILC, including the LHC with integrated luminosity of 300 fb$^{-1}$ (LHC-300 fb$^{-1}$) and 3000 fb$^{-1}$ (LHC-3000 fb$^{-1}$) as well as …
Higgs production in association with a photon at hadron colliders is a rare process, not yet observed at the LHC. We show that this process is sensitive to significant deviations of Higgs couplings to first and second generation SM quarks (particularly the up-type) from their SM values, and use a multivariate neural network analysis to derive the prospects of the High Luminosity LHC to probe deviations in the up and charm Higgs Yukawa couplings through $h + γ$ production.
We describe recent developments of the public computer code HiggsBounds. In particular, these include the incorporation of LHC Higgs search results from Run 2 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, and an updated and extended framework for the theoretical input that accounts for improved Higgs cross section and branching ratio predictions and new search channels. We furthermore discuss an improved method used in HiggsBounds to approximately reconstruct the exclusion likelihood for LHC searches for non-standard Higgs bosons decaying to $ττ$ final states. We describe in detail the new and updated…
We study the collider phenomenology of sbottom-bino co-annihilation scenario at both the 7 TeV and 14 TeV LHC. This co-annihilation scenario requires that the NLSP sbottom and LSP bino masses are apart by no more than about 20% or so, and for M_{\tilde{b}_1}>M_b+M_{\tildeχ_1^0}, the sbottom decays exclusively into b+\tildeχ_1^0. We propose a search for sbottom pairs through b\bar{b} plus missing energy. By scanning the mass parameters M_{\tilde{b}_1} and M_{\tildeχ_1^0}, we investigate the discovery limits of sbottom and bino in the M_{\tilde{b}_1}-M_{\tildeχ_1^0} plane with at least 5σsignifi…
The LHC program for discovery of light charged Higgs with mass 135-180 GeV has to take into account decay $H^+\to \bar{b}\,t^*\to W^+b\bar{b}$. The distribution of decay products in effective mass of $t^*=Wb$ is obtained.
We have systematically investigated the production of a Higgs boson with a mass of about $125$ GeV in the decays of supersymmetric particles within the phenomenological MSSM (pMSSM). We find regions of parameter space that are consistent with all world data and that predict a sizeable rate of anomalous Higgs, di-Higgs and even tri-Higgs events at the 14 TeV LHC. All relevant SUSY production processes are investigated. We find that Higgs bosons can be produced in a large variety of SUSY processes, resulting in a large range of different detector signatures containing missing transverse momentum…
In a number of Higgs-portal models, an $SU(2)$ isospin-singlet scalar boson generically appears at the electroweak scale and can mix with the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson with a mixing angle $α$. This singlet scalar boson can have renormalizable couplings to a pair of dark matter particles, vectorlike leptons or quarks, or new gauge bosons, thereby modifying the Higgs signal strengths in a nontrivial way. In this work, we perform global fits to such models using the most updated LHC Higgs-boson data and discuss the corresponding implications on Higgs-portal-type models. In particular we fin…
We study the discovery prospects of a heavy neutral scalar arising from a $U(1)_{B-L}$ extension of the Standard Model (SM) during the Large Hadron Collider's high luminosity runs (HL-LHC). This heavy neutral scalar mixes with the SM Higgs boson through a Higgs portal and interacts with the SM particles with an interaction strength proportional to the sine of the mixing angle. The mixing between the two Higgs bosons is constrained by direct and indirect measurements. We choose an experimentally viable mixing angle and explore in detail the $ZZ$ and $WW$ decay modes of the heavy Higgs boson. Fo…
We study the impact of a hidden sector beyond the Standard Model, e.g. a Hidden Valley model, on factorial moments and cumulants of multiplicity distributions in multiparticle production with a special emphasis on the prospects for LHC results.
The search for evidence of beyond Standard Model Higgs bosons is an integral part of the Higgs boson studies at the LHC. This article reviews recent beyond Standard Model Higgs boson searches using Run I LHC proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector. In particular, searches for Higgs boson cascades, double Higgs boson production, scalar particles decaying to $γγ$ pairs, flavor changing neutral currents involving Higgs bosons, and Higgs bosons decaying to invisible particles are discussed. No significant deviations from the background expectations are found and corresponding c…
The discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC opened up a new possibility to obtain a precise understanding of the origin of mass and the structure of the vacuum. Several theories beyond the Standard Model predict an extended Higgs sector, with additional scalar particles. We outline the complementary search possibilities for these beyond Standard Model Higgs bosons at the LHC and at possible future high-energy collider facilities.
In the context of the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) we examine the constraints on the trilinear Higgs coupling that originate from off-shell Higgs production in proton-proton collisions. Our calculation of the $gg \to h^\ast \to Z Z \to 4 \ell$ process includes two-loop corrections to gluon-gluon-fusion Higgs production and one-loop corrections to the Higgs propagator and its decay. Employing a matrix-element based kinematic discriminant we determine the reach of LHC Run 3 and the high-luminosity option of the LHC in constraining the relevant SMEFT Wilson coefficients. We prese…
This article summarizes a talk given at Higgs Hunting 2014 on projections of the sensitivity of the ATLAS and CMS experiments to beyond Standard Model Higgs physics at the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider. We describe results on vector boson scattering, searches for additional neutral Higgs bosons in two Higgs doublet models and flavour changing neutral current top decays.
We explore the parameter choices in the five-dimensional Randall-Sundrum model with the inclusion of Higgs-radion mixing that can describe current LHC hints for one or more Higgs boson signals.
A method is proposed to directly probe the Higgs boson compositeness using the unique characteristics of a boosted Higgs boson produced in association with a weak gauge boson ($W^{\pm},Z$). The discovery potential for the upcoming LHC running is presented, showing that compositeness scales up to 3 TeV can be probed at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of $\mathcal{L}=3000$ fb$^{-1}$ collected at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV.
The aim of this work is to explore the possibility to discover a fermionic field with mass dimension one, the Elko field, in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Due to its mass dimension, an Elko can only interact either with Standard Model (SM) spinors and gauge fields at 1-loop order or at tree level through a quartic interaction with the Higgs field. In this Higgs portal scenario, the Elko is a viable candidate to a dark matter constituent which has been shown to be compatible with relic abundance measurements from WMAP and direct dark matter--nucleon searches. We propose a search strategy for…
We study the modification to di-Higgs production via gluon fusion within the context of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model(MSSM) and the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model(NMSSM) in the parameter space allowed by current experimental and theoretical constraints, and also relevant to the Large Hadron Collider(LHC) experiments in the near future. The calculation is based on the analytical expression of the leading order Feynman amplitudes (which includes both quark and squark loops). We separate the di-Higgs production cross section into resonant, non-resonant, and interference…
A Higgs portal dark matter model for explaining the gamma-ray excess from the galactic center can be realized with the extension of local $SU(2)_X$ gauge symmetry with one quadruplet. Due to the residual $Z_3$ discrete symmetry of $SU(2)_X$, the new gauge bosons are the stable dark matter candidates. Due to the mixture of the standard model Higgs doublet and the introduced quadruplet, dark matter could annihilate into the standard model particles through the Higgs portal and new scalar portal. We study the discovery significance of the vector dark matter at the Large Hadron Collider. The invol…
We observe a generic connection between LHC Higgs data and electroweak baryogenesis: the particle that contributes to the CP odd $hgg$ or $h γγ$ vertex would provide the CP violating source during a first order phase transition. It is illustrated in the 2HDM that a common complex phase controls the lightest Higgs properties at the LHC, electric dipole moments and the CP violating source for electroweak baryogenesis. We perform a general parametrization of Higgs effective couplings and a global fit to the LHC Higgs data. Current LHC measurements prefer a nonzero phase for $\tan β\lesssim 1$ and…
The LHC searches for the CP-odd Higgs boson is studied (with masses from 300 GeV to 1 TeV) in the context of the general two-Higgs-doublet model. With the discovery of the 125 GeV Higgs boson at the LHC, we highlight one promising discovery channel of the hZ. This channel can become significant after the global signal fitting to the 125 GeV Higgs boson in the general two-Higgs-doublet model. It is particularly important in the scenario where two CP-even Higgs bosons in the two-Higgs-doublet model have the common mass of 125 GeV. Since the final states involve a Standard-Model-like Higgs boson,…
In this talk, I describe the general characteristics of radiative neutrino mass models that can be probed at the LHC. I then cover the constraints on a new, explicit model of this type.
We show that combining a direct measurement of the Higgs total width from the H \to ZZ \to 4l lineshape with Higgs signal rate measurements allows Higgs couplings to be extracted in a model-independent way from CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) data. Using existing experimental studies with 30 fb-1 at one detector of the 14 TeV LHC, we show that the couplings-squared of a 190 GeV Higgs to WW, ZZ, and gg can be extracted with statistical precisions of about 10%, and a 95% confidence level upper limit on an unobserved component of the Higgs decay width of about 22% of the SM Higgs width can be se…
A review of the current experimental results on searches for Higgs bosons in models beyond the Standard Model is presented. Searches from ATLAS, CMS and LHCb use datasets from Run 1 of the LHC, including 7 and 8 TeV proton-proton collisions. Searches from CDF and D0 use the full or partial 1.96 TeV proton-anti-proton collision datasets from the Tevatron.
The measurement of Higgs self-coupling is one of the most crucial physics goals at the future colliders. At the LHC, the di-Higgs production is a main way to measure the Higgs trilinear coupling. As a complementary to the di-Higgs production, $t \bar{t} hh$ process may open a new avenue to measure di-Higgs physics at the LHC and a future 100 TeV $pp$ collider or a high energy $e^+e^-$ collider since the extra $t\bar t$ in the final states may efficiently suppress the backgrounds. However, such a kind of process is also controlled by the top-Higgs coupling. In this work, we investigate the impa…
On-going Higgs searches in the light mass window are of vital importance for testing the Higgs mechanism and probing new physics beyond the standard model (SM). The latest ATLAS and CMS searches for the SM Higgs boson at the LHC (7TeV) found some intriguing excesses of events in the γγ/VV^* channels (V=Z,W) around the mass-range of 124-126 GeV. We explore a possible explanation of the γγand VV^* signals from the light CP-odd Higgs A^0 or CP-even Higgs h^0 from the general two-Higgs-doublet model with fourth-family fermions. We demonstrate that by including invisible decays of the Higgs boson A…
In this note we give interim recommendations on how to evaluate LHC cross sections for (neutral) Higgs production and Higgs branching ratios in the general (CP-conserving) Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM). The current status of available higher-order corrections to Higgs production and decay in this model is discussed, and the existing public codes implementing these calculations are described. Numerical results are presented for a set of reference scenarios, demonstrating the very good agreement between the results obtained using different programs.
We comment on the Standard Model Higgs boson evidence from LHC. We propose that the new resonance at 125 GeV could be interpreted as a pseudoscalar meson with quantum number $J^{PC} = 0^{- +}$. We show that this pseudoscalar could mimic the decays of the Standard Model Higgs boson in all channels with the exception of the decay into two leptons that is strongly suppressed due to charge-conjugation invariance.
Now that a Higgs boson has been discovered at the LHC, measuring its couplings to other particles is the next important step. In order to probe the electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism at its core it is crucial to reconstruct the scalar potential and hence measure the triple Higgs coupling at the LHC. We present a review of the main Standard Model Higgs boson pair production mechanisms in which the triple Higgs coupling plays a role and present the latest phenomenological analyses in view of a high luminosity LHC. One example of an analysis in the Two-Higgs-Doublet model will also be given …
We demonstrate that the detection of the SM and MSSM Higgs bosons will be possible at the LHC via $t\anti t b\anti b$ and $b\anti b b\anti b$ final state, provided $b$-tagging can be performed with good efficiency and purity.
