No Arabic abstract
The CP-odd Higgs boson $A^0$ of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) and Two Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM) will usually decay into the heaviest possible fermion -- antifermion pair available. The $A^0 to VV$ decay where, $V =gamma, Z, W^pm$, and gluons are of particular interest as they are not allowed at tree level and hence they may offer information about the underlying new physics that enters at one loop level. In this paper all branching ratios of the CP-odd Higgs boson $A^0$ both in the MSSM and 2HDM are presented for this channel including all relevant Standard Model (SM) and MSSM particles. This discovery channel might provide an opportunity to search for a CP-odd Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and new physics beyond the Standard Model. Expressions for these decays are given in the Appendices.
We study the process q q, g g -> A -> Z* h in a 2-Higgs Doublet Model Type-II where the mass of the CP-odd Higgs state $A$ is lower than the rest mass of the Z and h particles (the latter being the Standard Model-like Higgs state), i.e., m_A < m_Z+m_h = 215 GeV. This is a mass range which is not being currently tested by ATLAS and CMS in this channel, yet we show that there can be sensitivity to it already during Runs 2 and 3, assuming leptonic decays of the gauge boson and bottom-antibottom quark ones for the Higgs boson.
The discovery of a 125 GeV Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider strongly motivates direct searches for additional Higgs bosons. In a type I two Higgs doublet model there is a large region of parameter space at $tanbeta > 5$ that is currently unconstrained experimentally. We show that the process $gg to H to A Z to ZZh$ can probe this region, and can be the discovery mode for an extended Higgs sector at the LHC. We analyze 9 promising decay modes for the $ZZh$ state, and we find that the most sensitive final states are $ellellellell bb$, $ellell jjbb$, $ellell u ugammagamma$ and $ellellellell +{}$missing energy.
Phenomenological implications of a minimal extension to the Standard Model are considered, in which a Nambu-Goldstone boson emerges from the spontaneous breaking of a global U(1) symmetry. This is felt only by a scalar field which is a singlet under all Standard Model symmetries, and possibly by neutrinos. Mixing between the Standard Model Higgs boson field and the new singlet field may lead to predominantly invisible Higgs boson decays. The natural region in the Higgs boson mass spectrum is determined, where this minimally extended Standard Model is a valid theory up to a high scale related with the smallness of neutrino masses. Surprisingly, this region may coincide with low visibility of all Higgs bosons at the LHC. Monte-Carlo simulation studies of this nightmare situation are performed and strategies to search for such Higgs boson to invisible (Nambu-Goldstone boson) decays are discussed. It is possible to improve the signal-to-background ratio by looking at the distribution of either the total transverse momentum of the leptons and the missing transverse momentum, or by looking at the distribution of the azimuthal angle between the missing transverse momentum and the momentum of the lepton pair for the Z- and Higgs-boson associated production. We also study variations of the model with non-Abelian symmetries and present approximate formulae for Higgs boson decay rates. Searching for Higgs bosons in such a scenario at the LHC would most likely be solely based on Higgs to invisible decays.
Recent results on MSSM Higgs physics at the LHC are reviewed. The dependence of the LHC discovery reach in the bbar b H/A, H/A to tau^+tau^- channel on the underlying SUSY scenario is analysed. This is done by combining the latest results for the prospective CMS experimental sensitivities for an integrated luminosity of 30 or 60 fb^-1 with state-of-the-art theoretical predictions of MSSM Higgs-boson properties. The results are interpreted in terms of the parameters governing the MSSM Higgs sector at lowest order, M_A and tan_beta. While the higgsino mass parameter mu has a significant impact on the prospective discovery reach (and correspondingly the ``LHC wedge region), it is found that the discovery reach is rather stable with respect to variations of other supersymmetric parameters. Within the discovery region a determination of the masses of the heavy neutral Higgs bosons with an accuracy of 1-4% seems feasible. It is furthermore shown that Higgs-boson production in central exclusive diffractive channels can provide important information on the properties of the neutral MSSM Higgs bosons.
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 $sinalpha = 0.3$, 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.