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Exclusive Window onto Higgs Yukawa Couplings
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Measurements of the Total and Differential Higgs Boson Production Cross Sections Combining the H → γ γ and H → Z Z * → 4 ℓ Decay Channels at s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS Detector
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Search for B-decay to Higgs Bosons for Higgs Boson Masses Between 50 and 210 MeV/c**2
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Using b-tagging to detect t anti-t Higgs production with Higgs ' b anti-b
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Multi-Higgs doublet models: physical parametrization, sum rules and unitarity bounds
If the scalar sector of the Standard Model is non-minimal, one might expect multiple generations of the hypercharge-1/2 scalar doublet analogous to the generational structure of the fermions. In this work, we examine the structure of a Higgs sector consisting of N Higgs doublets (where N ≥ 2). It is particularly convenient to work in the so-called charged Higgs basis, in which the neutral Higgs vacuum expectation value resides entirely in the first Higgs doublet, and the charged components of remaining N - 1 Higgs doublets are mass-eigenstate fields. We elucidate the interactions of the gauge bosons with the physical Higgs scalars and the Goldstone bosons and show that they are determined by an N × 2N matrix. This matrix depends on (N - 1)(2N - 1) real parameters that are associated with the mixing of the neutral Higgs fields in the charged Higgs basis. Among these parameters, N - 1 are unphysical (and can be removed by rephasing the physical charged Higgs fields), and the remaining 2(N - 1) 2 parameters are physical. We also demonstrate a particularly simple form for the cubic interaction and some of the quartic interactions of the Goldstone bosons with the physical Higgs scalars. These results are applied in the derivation of Higgs coupling sum rules and tree-level unitarity bounds that restrict the size of the quartic scalar couplings. In particular, new applications to three Higgs doublet models with an order-4 CP symmetry and with a Z 3 symmetry, respectively, are presented.
A natural mechanism for approximate Higgs alignment in the 2HDM
The 2HDM possesses a neutral scalar interaction eigenstate whose tree-level properties coincide with the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson. In light of the LHC Higgs data which suggests that the observed Higgs boson is SM-like, it follows that the mixing of the SM Higgs interaction eigenstate with the other neutral scalar interaction eigenstates of the 2HDM should be suppressed, corresponding to the so-called Higgs alignment limit. The exact Higgs alignment limit can arise naturally due to a global symmetry of the scalar potential. If this symmetry is softly broken, then the Higgs alignment limit becomes approximate (although still potentially consistent with the current LHC Higgs data). In this paper, we obtain the approximate Higgs alignment suggested by the LHC Higgs data as a consequence of a softly broken global symmetry of the Higgs Lagrangian. However, this can only be accomplished if the Yukawa sector of the theory is extended. We propose an extended 2HDM with vector-like top quark partners, where explicit mass terms in the top sector provide the source of the soft symmetry breaking of a generalized CP symmetry. In this way, we can realize approximate Higgs alignment without a significant fine-tuning of the model parameters. We then explore the implications of the current LHC bounds on vector-like top quark partners for the success of our proposed scenario.
Stable Higgs mode in anisotropic quantum magnets
Low-energy excitations associated with the amplitude fluctuation of an order parameter in condensed-matter systems can mimic the Higgs boson, an elementary particle in the standard model, and are dubbed as Higgs modes. Identifying the condensed-matter Higgs mode is challenging because it is known in many cases to decay rapidly into other low-energy bosonic modes, which renders the Higgs mode invisible. Therefore, it is desirable to find a way to stabilize the Higgs mode, which can offer an insight into the stabilization mechanism of the Higgs mode in condensed-matter physics. In quantum magnets, magnetic order caused by spontaneous symmetry breaking supports transverse (magnons) and longitudinal (Higgs modes) fluctuations. Additionally, when a continuous symmetry is broken, the Goldstone magnon mode generally has an excitation energy lower than that of the Higgs mode, causing a rapid decay of the latter. In this work, we show that a stable Higgs mode exists in anisotropic quantum magnets near the quantum critical point between the dimerized and magnetically ordered phases. We find that an easy axis anisotropy increases the magnon gap such that the magnon mode is above the Higgs mode near the quantum critical point, and the decay of the Higgs mode into the magnon mode is forbidden kinematically. Our results suggest that the anisotropic quantum magnets provide ideal platforms to explore the Higgs physics in condensed-matter systems.
Higgs friends and counterfeits at hadron colliders
We consider the possibility of 'Higgs counterfeits' - scalars that can be produced with cross sections comparable to the SM Higgs, and which decay with identical relative observable branching ratios, but which are nonetheless not responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking. We also consider a related scenario involving 'Higgs friends,' fields similarly produced through gg fusion processes, which would be discovered through diboson channels WW,ZZ,{gamma}{gamma}, or even {gamma}Z, potentially with larger cross sections times branching ratios than for the Higgs. The discovery of either a Higgs friend or a Higgs counterfeit, rather than directly pointing towards the origin of the weak scale, would indicate the presence of new colored fields necessary for the sizable production cross section (and possibly new colorless but electroweakly charged states as well, in the case of the diboson decays of a Higgs friend). These particles could easily be confused for an ordinary Higgs, perhaps with an additional generation to explain the different cross section, and we emphasize the importance of vector boson fusion as a channel to distinguish a Higgs counterfeit from a true Higgs. Such fields would naturally be expected in scenarios with 'effective Z's,' where heavy states charged under the SM produce effective charges for SM fields under a new gauge force. We discuss the prospects for discovery of Higgs counterfeits, Higgs friends, and associated charged fields at the LHC.
SEARCH FOR THE STANDARD MODEL HIGGS BOSON IN ITS ASSOCIATED PRODUCTION WITH A W VECTOR BOSON IN pp COLLISIONS AT p s = 1:96TEV
In this dissertation, results from a search for the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson is shown. The SM is the theoretical framework which describes particles of matter and force carrier gauge bosons. To solve the mass problem in the SM, the Higgs mechanism was introduced in 1963. The Higgs mechanism causes an electroweak symmetry breaking and a new massive scalar boson was postulated. This particle is the Higgs boson. A search for the Higgs boson has been ongoing at the Tevatron where protons and antiprotons were allowed to collide at a center-of-mass energy of 1:96 TeV. For a low mass Higgs, that is a Higgs with a mass lower than 135 GeV, the dominant decay mode is Higgs to a pair of b-quarks (H ! bb ). This work concentrated on a Higgs whose mass is in the range of 100 150 GeV, with a W vector boson produced with the Higgs boson. The final state chosen is the one which contains a lepton a neutrino and a pair of b-quarks. This study used data provided by the DZERO experiment. Results presented here are the outcome of analyzing 5:3 fb1 of data from RunII period. The analysis used different techniques to increase the sensitivity of the study. Data were subdivided based on lepton flavor, number of jets in sample, jets identified as b-jets and dates of collected data. A multivariate analysis technique based on boosted decision trees were used to separate signal from background processes, physical and instrumental. A good agreement between data and simulated events was observed. An observed (expected) upper limit of 4:5 (4:8) for a Higgs of mass 115 GeV was set on the ratio of the Higgs production to its decay branching ratio at the 95% confidence level.
Search for Dark Matter using mono-Higgs and the ATLAS Pixel Detector (Final Report)
A large component of the mass-energy of the universe is composed of dark matter (DM), whose properties and interactions with known particles are not yet understood. Searches for DM at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) provide important information, complementary to direct and indirect detection experiments, that is necessary to determine whether an observed signal indeed stems from DM. Furthermore, the discovery of the Higgs boson provides a unique avenue to search for DM because the potential interaction of the Higgs with DM would lead to the unique signature of a Higgs boson recoiling against DM. This process is typically referred to as mono-Higgs because DM does not interact strongly with most known particles and will therefore pass unseen through the detector, leading to a single detected Higgs boson and a large imbalance of momentum. Due to the strength of the interactions of the Higgs with Standard Model particles, it is unlikely for a Higgs boson to be radiated from initial state quarks. Therefore, the observation of this process would provide direct insight into the mechanism by which DM couples to known particles. The objective of this research program is to search for the dark matter particles produced in association with a Higgs boson at the LHC using the ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC Apparatus) detector, specifically when the Higgs boson decays to two bottom quarks. This research will benefit greatly from the development of innovative identification techniques of boosted Higgs bosons. The program includes the upgrade of the ATLAS Pixel readout system, which is critical to maintain high performance of tracking, vertexing, and boosted Higgs tagging in the planned higher luminosity run of the LHC.
Search for the Standard Model Higgs boson produced in association with a W Boson in the isolated-track charged-lepton channel using the Collider Detector at Fermilab
The Higgs boson is the only elementary particle predicted by the Standard Model (SM) that has not yet been observed experimentally. If it exists, it explains the spontaneous electroweak symmetry breaking and the origin of mass for gauge bosons and fermions. We test the validity of the SM by performing a search for the associated production of a Higgs boson and a W boson in the channel where the Higgs boson decays to a bottom-antibottom quark pair and the W boson decays to a charged lepton and a neutrino (the WH channel). We study a dataset of proton-antiproton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy √s = 1.96 TeV provided by the Tevatron accelerator, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.7 fb -1 , and recorded using the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF).We select events consistent with the signature of exactly one charged lepton (electron or muon), missing transverse energy due to the undetected neutrino (MET) and two collimated streams of particles (jets), at least one of which is required to be identified as originating from a bottom quark. We improve the discrimination of Higgs signal from backgrounds through the use of an artificial neural network. Using a Bayesian statistical inference approach, we set for each hypothetical Higgs boson mass in the range 100-150 GeV/c 2 with 5 GeV/c 2 increments a 95% credibility level (CL) upper limit on the ratio between the Higgs production cross section times branching fraction and the SM prediction. Our main original contributions are the addition of a novel charged lepton reconstruction algorithm with looser requirements (ISOTRK) with respect the electron or muon tight criteria (TIGHT), as well as the introduction of a novel trigger-combination method that allows to maximize the event yield while avoiding trigger correlations and that is used for the ISOTRK category. The ISOTRK candidate is a high-transverse-momentum good-quality track isolated from other activity in the tracking system and not required to match a calorimeter cluster, as for a tight electron candidate, or an energy deposit in the muon detector, as for a tight muon candidate. The ISOTRK category recovers real charged leptons that otherwise would be lost in the non-instrumented regions of the detector. This allows the reconstruction of more W boson candidates, which in turn increases the number of reconstructed WH signal candidate events, and therefore improves the sensitivity of the WH search. For the TIGHT charged lepton categories, we employ charged-lepton-dedicated triggers to improve the rate of WH signal acceptance during data taking. Since there is no ISOTRK-dedicated trigger at CDF, for the ISOTRK charged lepton category we employ three MET-plus-jets-based triggers. For each trigger we first identify the jet selection where the trigger efficiency is flat with respect to jet information (transverse energy and direction of motion in the transverse plane for the two jets in the event) and then we parametrize the trigger efficiency as a function of trigger MET. On an event-by-event basis, for each trigger we compute a trigger efficiency as a function of trigger parametrization, trigger MET, jet information, trigger prescale and information about whether the trigger is defined or not. For the ISOTRK category we combine the three triggers using a novel method, which allows the combination of any number of triggers in order to maximize the event yield while avoiding trigger correlations. On an event-by-event basis, only the trigger with the largest efficiency is used. By avoiding a logical 'OR' between triggers, the loss in the yield of events accepted by the trigger combination is compensated by a smaller and easier-to-compute corresponding systematic uncertainty. The addition of the ISOTRK charged lepton category to the TIGHT category produces an increase of 33% in the WH signal yield and a decrease of 15.5% to 19.0% in the median expected 95% CL cross-section upper limits across the entire studied Higgs mass interval. The improvement in analysis sensitivity is smaller than the improvement in signal yield because the ISOTRK category has a smaller signal over background ratio than the TIGHT category, due to the looser ISOTRK reconstruction criteria. The observed (median expected) 95% CL SM Higgs upper limits on cross section times branching ratio vary between 2.39 x SM (2.73 x SM) for a Higgs mass of 100 GeV/c 2 to 31.1 x SM (31.2 x SM) for a Higgs mass of 150 GeV/c 2 , while the value for a 115 GeV/c 2 Higgs boson is that of 5.08 x SM (3.79 x SM). The novel trigger combination method is already in use by several CDF analyses. It is applicable to any analysis that uses triggers based on MET and jets, such as supersymmetry searches at the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider. In its most general form, the method can be used by any analysis that combines any number of different triggers.
Leveraging the Higgs to Discover Physics Beyond the Standard Model (Final Technical Report)
The discovery of an apparently Standard Model-like Higgs at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) heralds the start of a new era in particle physics. While the Higgs marks the completion of the Standard Model framework, it offers far more opportunities in the search for physics beyond the Standard Model. The Higgs boson raises a pressing theoretical problem known as the hierarchy problem: why is an elementary scalar particle so light when quantum corrections tie its mass to the highest energy scales? The Higgs also provides an unprecedented experimental opportunity as a bellwether of new physics: it may be merely the first of several states in the electroweak symmetry breaking sector, while its production and decays may provide unique evidence for additional particles. Research supported by this award leveraged the Higgs boson to explore new physics from both directions, developing novel approaches to solving the hierarchy problem posed by the Higgs boson and directly employing the Higgs as a new tool for discovery. Given that null results at the LHC and other experiments have begun to endanger conventional approaches to the hierarchy problem, research supported by the award identified original solutions to the hierarchy problem wherein the lightest degrees of freedom protecting the Higgs boson carry no Standard Model quantum numbers and thus evade existing searches. The PI's approach combined standard tools of quantum field theory with novel applications of the orbifold reduction of continuous symmetries to define the framework of "neutral naturalness'' and explore its experimental consequences across the energy, intensity, and cosmic frontiers. In employing the Higgs directly as a tool for discovery, research supported by this award articulated a systematic approach to searching for extensions of the Higgs sector at the LHC and pursued four key avenues through which the Higgs can be used to uncover new physics across a range of experiments: (1) as a direct final state probe; (2) as an indirect probe through its couplings; (3) as a portal to states neutral under the Standard Model; and (4) as a source of exotic processes in displaced decays.
Higgs phenomenology in the minimal S U ( 3 ) L x U ( 1 ) X model
Here, we investigate the phenomenology of a model based on the SU(3) c ×SU(3) L ×U(1) X gauge theory, the so-called 331 model. Particularly, we focus on the Higgs sector of the model which is composed of three SU(3) L triplet Higgs fields, and this corresponds to the minimal form to realize phenomenologically acceptable scenario. After the spontaneous symmetry breaking SU(3) L ×U(1) X →SU(2) L ×U(1) Y , our Higgs sector effectively becomes that with two SU(2)L doublet scalar fields, in which the first and the second generation quarks couple to the different Higgs doublet from that couples to the third generation quarks. Furthermore, this structure causes the flavour changing neutral current mediated by Higgs bosons at the tree level. By taking an alignment limit of the mass matrix for the CP-even Higgs bosons, which is naturally realized in the case with the breaking scale of SU(3) L ×U(1) X to be much larger than that of SU(2) L ×U(1) L , we can avoid current constraints from flavour experiments such as the B 0 -$\bar{B}$ 0 mixing even for the Higgs bosons masses being O(100) GeV. In this allowed parameter space, we clarify that a characteristic deviation in quark Yukawa couplings of the standard model-like Higgs boson is predicted, which has a different pattern from that seen in two Higgs doublet models with a softly-broken Z 2 symmetry. We also find that the flavour violating decay modes of the extra Higgs boson, e.g., H/A→tc and H ± →ts can be dominant, and they yield the important signature to distinguish our model from the two Higgs doublet models.
Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson at DØ in the Final State with Two τ's and Two Jets
The Standard Model (SM) is a very successful description of particle physics, and its predictions have stood up to a multitude of precision experimental tests. But one of the central elements of the SM, the Higgs mechanism, has yet to be verified. The Higgs mechanism (and the associated Higgs Boson) generates electroweak symmetry breaking and consequently allows for W and Z bosons and fermions to be massive. This thesis presents a search for the SM Higgs boson at the D0 experiment using the Tevatron particle accelerator at Fermilab in the final state ττ + jet jet with 4.3 fb -1 of data. This final state is sensitive to the Higgs production mechanisms gluon-gluon fusion and vector-boson fusion, and to the Higgs produced in association with a W or Z, for Higgs masses from 100 to 200 GeV. We see no evidence for the Higgs boson, but by itself our search does not rule out the SM Higgs. When this analysis is combined with other searches at the Tevatron the Higgs can be ruled out at a 95% confidence level for the mass range from 156 to 177 GeV.
Type-I 2HDM under the Higgs and electroweak precision measurements
We explore the extent to which future precision measurements of the Standard Model (SM) observables at the proposed Z -factories and Higgs factories may have impacts on new physics beyond the Standard Model, as illustrated by studying the Type-I Two-Higgs-doublet model (Type-I 2HDM). We include the contributions from the heavy Higgs bosons at the tree-level and at the one-loop level in a full model-parameter space. While only small tan β region is strongly constrained at tree level, the large tan β region gets constrained at loop level due to tan β enhanced tri-Higgs couplings. We perform a multiple variable χ 2 fit with non-alignment and non-degenerate masses. We find that the allowed parameter ranges could be tightly constrained by the future Higgs precision measurements, especially for small and large values of tan β . Indirect limits on the masses of heavy Higgs bosons can be obtained, which can be complementary to the direct searches of the heavy Higgs bosons at hadron colliders. We also find that the expected accuracies at the Z -pole and at a Higgs factory are quite complementary in constraining mass splittings of heavy Higgs bosons. The typical results are | cos( β - α ) | < 0 . 05 , | Δ m Φ | < 200 GeV, and tan β ≳ 0 . 3. The reaches from CEPC, Fcc-ee and ILC are also compared, for both Higgs and Z -pole precision measurements. Comparing to the Type-II 2HDM, the 95% C.L. allowed range of cos( β - α ) is larger, especially for large values of tan β .
A more natural composite Higgs model
Composite Higgs models provide an attractive solution to the hierarchy problem. However, many realistic models suffer from tuning problems in the Higgs potential. There are often large contributions from the UV dynamics of the composite resonances to the Higgs potential, and tuning between the quadratic term and the quartic term is required to separate the electroweak breaking scale and the compositeness scale. We consider a composite Higgs model based on the SU(6)/Sp(6) coset, where an enhanced symmetry on the fermion resonances can minimize the Higgs quadratic term. Moreover, a Higgs quartic term from the collective symmetry breaking of the little Higgs mechanism can be realized by the partial compositeness couplings between elementary Standard Model fermions and the composite operators, without introducing new elementary fields beyond the Standard Model and the composite sector. The model contains two Higgs doublets, as well as several additional pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons. To avoid tuning, the extra Higgs bosons are expected to be relatively light and may be probed in the future LHC runs. The deviations of the Higgs couplings and the weak gauge boson couplings also provide important tests as they are expected to be close to the current limits in this model.
A comparative study of Higgs boson production from vector-boson fusion
The data taken in Run II at the Large Hadron Collider have started to probe Higgs boson production at high transverse momentum. Future data will provide a large sample of events with boosted Higgs boson topologies, allowing for a detailed understanding of electroweak Higgs boson plus two-jet production, and in particular the vector-boson fusion mode (VBF). We perform a detailed comparison of precision calculations for Higgs boson production in this channel, with particular emphasis on large Higgs boson transverse momenta, and on the jet radius dependence of the cross section. We study fixed-order predictions at next-to-leading order and next-to-next-to-leading order QCD, and compare the results to NLO plus parton shower (NLOPS) matched calculations. The impact of the NNLO corrections on the central predictions is mild, with inclusive scale uncertainties of the order of a few percent, which can increase with the imposition of kinematic cuts. We find good agreement between the fixed-order and matched calculations in non-Sudakov regions, and the various NLOPS predictions also agree well in the Sudakov regime. We analyze backgrounds to VBF Higgs boson production stemming from associated production, and from gluon-gluon fusion. At high Higgs boson transverse momenta, the Δy$_{jj}$ and/or m$_{jj}$ cuts typically used to enhance the VBF signal over background lead to a reduced efficiency. We examine this effect as a function of the jet radius and using different definitions of the tagging jets. QCD radiative corrections increase for all Higgs production modes with increasing Higgs boson p$_{T}$, but the proportionately larger increase in the gluon fusion channel results in a decrease of the gluon-gluon fusion background to electroweak Higgs plus two jet production upon requiring exclusive two-jet topologies. We study this effect in detail and contrast in particular a central jet veto with a global jet multiplicity requirement.