We develop a technique to present Higgs coupling measurements, which decouple the poorly defined theoretical uncertainties associated to inclusive and exclusive cross section predictions. The technique simplifies the combination of multiple measurements and can be used in a more general setting. We illustrate the approach with toy LHC Higgs coupling measurements and a collection of new physics models.
Due to the high anticipated experimental precision at the Future Circular Collider FCC-ee (or other proposed $e^+e^-$ colliders, such as ILC, CLIC, or CEPC) for electroweak and Higgs-boson precision measurements, theoretical uncertainties may have, if unattended, an important impact on the interpretation of these measurements within the Standard Model (SM), and thus on constraints on new physics. Current theory uncertainties, which would dominate the total uncertainty, need to be strongly reduced through future advances in the calculation of multi-loop radiative corrections together with improved experimental and theoretical control of the precision of SM input parameters. This document aims to provide an estimate of the required improvement in calculational accuracy in view of the anticipated high precision at the FCC-ee. For the most relevant electroweak and Higgs-boson precision observables we evaluate the corresponding quantitative impact.
We consider the problem of assigning a meaningful degree of belief to uncertainty estimates of perturbative series. We analyse the assumptions which are implicit in the conventional estimates made using renormalisation scale variations. We then formulate a Bayesian model that, given equivalent initial hypotheses, allows one to characterise a perturbative theoretical uncertainty in a rigorous way in terms of a credibility interval for the remainder of the series. We compare its outcome to the conventional uncertainty estimates in the simple case of the calculation of QCD corrections to the e+e- -> hadrons process. We find comparable results, but with important conceptual differences. This work represents a first step in the direction of a more comprehensive and rigorous handling of theoretical uncertainties in perturbative calculations used in high energy phenomenology.
The remaining theoretical uncertainties from unknown higher-order corrections in the prediction for the light Higgs-boson mass of the MSSM are estimated. The uncertainties associated with three different approaches that are implemented in the publicly available code FeynHiggs are compared: the fixed-order diagrammatic approach, suitable for low SUSY scales, the effective field theory (EFT) approach, suitable for high SUSY scales, and the hybrid approach which combines the fixed-order and the EFT approaches. It is demonstrated for a simple single-scale scenario that the result based on the hybrid approach yields a precise prediction for low, intermediate and high SUSY scales with a theoretical uncertainty of up to $sim 1.5$ GeV for large stop mixing and $sim 0.5$ GeV for small stop mixing. The uncertainty estimate of the hybrid calculation approaches the uncertainty estimate of the fixed-order result for low SUSY scales and the uncertainty estimate of the EFT approach for high SUSY scales, while for intermediate scales it is reduced compared to both of the individual results. The estimate of the theoretical uncertainty is also investigated in scenarios with more than one mass scale. A significantly enhanced uncertainty is found in scenarios where the gluino is substantially heavier than the scalar top quarks. The uncertainty estimate presented in this paper will be part of the public code FeynHiggs.
In models with an extended Higgs sector there exists an alignment limit, in which the lightest CP-even Higgs boson mimics the Standard Model Higgs. The alignment limit is commonly associated with the decoupling limit, where all non-standard scalars are significantly heavier than the $Z$ boson. However, alignment can occur irrespective of the mass scale of the rest of the Higgs sector. In this work we discuss the general conditions that lead to alignment without decoupling, therefore allowing for the existence of additional non-standard Higgs bosons at the weak scale. The values of $tanbeta$ for which this happens are derived in terms of the effective Higgs quartic couplings in general two-Higgs-doublet models as well as in supersymmetric theories, including the MSSM and the NMSSM. Moreover, we study the information encoded in the variations of the SM Higgs-fermion couplings to explore regions in the $m_A - tanbeta$ parameter space.
We present an update of the branching ratios for Higgs-boson decays in the Standard Model. We list results for all relevant branching ratios together with corresponding uncertainties resulting from input parameters and missing higher-order corrections. As sources of parametric uncertainties we include the masses of the charm, bottom, and top quarks as well as the QCD coupling constant. We compare our results with other predictions in the literature.