We reconsider observables for discovering a heavy Higgs boson (with m_h > 2m_W) via its di-leptonic decays h -> WW -> l nu l nu. We show that observables generalizing the transverse mass that take into account the fact that both of the intermediate W bosons are likely to be on-shell give a significant improvement over the variables used in existing searches. We also comment on the application of these observables to other decays which proceed via narrow-width intermediates.
The hints from the LHC for the existence of a $W$ boson of mass around 1.9 TeV point towards a certain $SU(2)_Ltimes SU(2)_Rtimes U(1)_{B-L}$ gauge theory with an extended Higgs sector. We show that the decays of the $W$ boson into heavy Higgs bosons have sizable branching fractions. Interpreting the ATLAS excess events in the search for same-sign lepton pairs plus $b$ jets as arising from $W$ cascade decays, we estimate that the masses of the heavy Higgs bosons are in the 400--700 GeV range.
We construct an $SU(2)_Ltimes SU(2)_Rtimes U(1)_{B-L}$ model with a Higgs sector that consists of a bidoublet and a doublet, and with a right-handed neutrino sector that includes one Dirac fermion and one Majorana fermion. This model explains the Run 1 CMS and ATLAS excess events in the $e^+e^-jj$, $jj$, $Wh^0$ and $WZ$ channels in terms of a $W$ boson of mass near 1.9 TeV and of coupling $g_R$ in the 0.4--0.5 range, with the lower half preferred by limits on $t bar b$ resonances and Run 2 results. The production cross section of this $W$ boson at the 13 TeV LHC is in the 700--900 fb range, allowing sensitivity in more than 17 final states. We determine that the $Z$ boson has a mass in the 3.4--4.5 TeV range and several decay channels that can be probed in Run 2 of the LHC, including cascade decays via heavy Higgs bosons.
We consider the possibility that the heavier CP-even Higgs boson~($H^0$) in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) decays invisibly into neutralinos in the light of the recent discovery of the 126 GeV resonance at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). For this purpose we consider the minimal supersymmetric standard model with universal, non-universal and arbitrary boundary conditions on the supersymmetry breaking gaugino mass parameters at the grand unified scale. Typically, scenarios with universal and nonuniversal gaugino masses do not allow invisible decays of the lightest Higgs boson~($h^0$), which is identified with the $126$ GeV resonance, into the lightest neutralinos in the MSSM. With arbitrary gaugino masses at the grand unified scale such an invisible decay is possible. The second lightest Higgs boson can decay into various invisible final states for a considerable region of the MSSM parameter space with arbitrary gaugino masses as well as with the gaugino masses restricted by universal and nonuniversal boundary conditions at the grand unified scale.The possibility of the second lightest Higgs boson of the MSSM decaying into invisible channels is more likely for arbitrary gaugino masses at the grand unified scale. The heavier Higgs boson decay into lighter particles leads to the intriguing possibility that the entire Higgs boson spectrum of the MSSM may be visible at the LHC even if it decays invisibly, during the searches for an extended Higgs boson sector at the LHC. In such a scenario the nonobservation of the extended Higgs sector of the MSSM may carefully be used to rule out regions of the MSSM parameter space at the LHC.
We compute the complete supersymmetric next-to-leading order corrections to the production of a light Higgs boson in weak boson fusion. The size of the electroweak corrections is of similar order as the next-to-leading order corrections in the Standard Model. The supersymmetric QCD corrections turn out to be significantly smaller than their electroweak counterparts. These higher--order corrections are an important ingredient to a precision analysis of the (supersymmetric) Higgs sector at the LHC, either as a known correction factor or as a contribution to the theory error.
The analysis of the Higgs search results at LEP showed that a part of the MSSM parameter space with non-zero complex phases could not be excluded, where the lightest neutral Higgs boson, h_1, has a mass of only about 45 GeV and the second lightest neutral Higgs boson, h_2, has a sizable branching fraction into a pair of h_1 states. Full one-loop results for the Higgs cascade decay h_2 --> h_1 h_1 are presented and combined with two-loop Higgs propagator corrections taken from the program FeynHiggs. Using the improved theoretical prediction to analyse the limits on topological cross sections obtained at LEP, the existence of an unexcluded region at low Higgs mass is confirmed. The effect of the genuine vertex corrections on the size and shape of this region is discussed.