Search for decays of the Higgs boson into a pair of pseudoscalar particles decaying into $b\overline{b}$$\tau$ + $\tau$ - using pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
This paper presents a search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson into a pair of new pseudoscalar particles, H → aa, where one pseudoscalar decays into a b-quark pair and the other decays into a $\tau$-lepton pair, in the mass range 12 ≤ m a ≤ 60 GeV. The analysis uses pp collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb -1 . No significant excess above the Standard Model (SM) prediction is observed. Assuming the SM Higgs boson production cross section, the search sets upper limits at 95% confidence level on the branching ratio of Higgs bosons decaying into $b\overline{b}$$\tau$ + $\tau$ - , $\mathcal{B}$(H → aa → $b\overline{b}$$\tau$ + $\tau$ - ), between 2.2% and 3.9% depending on the pseudoscalar mass.