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DOE OSTI2024

Flavor-violating Higgs and Z boson decays at a future circular lepton collider

Recent advances in b , c , and s quark tagging coupled with novel statistical analysis techniques will allow future high energy and high statistics electron-positron colliders, such as the FCC-ee, to place phenomenologically relevant bounds on flavor violating Higgs and Z decays to quarks. We assess the FCC-ee reach for Z / h → b s , c u decays as a function of jet tagging performance. We also update the standard model (SM) predictions for the corresponding branching ratios, as well as the indirect constraints on the flavor violating Higgs and Z couplings to quarks. Using the type III two Higgs doublet model as an example of beyond the standard model physics, we show that the searches for h → b s , c u decays at FCC-ee can probe new parameter space not excluded by indirect searches. We also reinterpret the FCC-ee reach for Z → b s , c u in terms of the constraints on models with vectorlike quarks. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Kamenik, Jernej F. (ORCID:0000000151838637)↗
DOE OSTI2024

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.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

NLO SMEFT electroweak corrections to Higgs boson decays to four leptons in the narrow width approximation

Some of the most precise measurements of Higgs boson couplings are from the Higgs decays to 4 leptons, where deviations from the Standard Model predictions can be quantified in the framework of the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT). In this work, we present a complete next-to-leading order (NLO) SMEFT electroweak calculation of the rate for H → ℓ + ℓ − Z which we combine with the NLO SMEFT result for Z → ℓ + ℓ − to obtain the NLO rate for the H → 4 lepton process in the narrow width approximation. The NLO calculation provides sensitivity to a wide range of SMEFT operators that do not contribute to the rate at lowest order and demonstrates the importance of including correlations between the effects of different operators when extracting limits on SMEFT parameters. We show that the extraction of the Higgs trilinear coupling from the decay H → ℓ + ℓ − Z , Z → ℓ + ℓ − in the narrow width approximation strongly depends on the contributions of other operators that first occur at NLO. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Interference of Higgs diphoton signal and background in production with a jet at the LHC

The Higgs mass determination from diphoton events at the LHC can be affected by interference between the Higgs resonant and continuum background amplitudes with the same initial and final states. For the leading order gluon fusion process, this shift was previously found to exceed 100 MeV, with some dependence on the diphoton mass resolution and the methods used to extract and fit the peak from data. In this paper, I consider the mass shift for the process pp --> j\gamma\gamma\ that includes an additional central jet in the final state. For cuts on the transverse momentum of the jet of 25 GeV or more, the diphoton Higgs peak mass shift due to interference is found to be very small, due in part to less interference for the gluon-gluon initiated subprocess, and in part to a cancellation between it and the quark-gluon initiated subprocess.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Interference effects for Higgs boson mediated Z -pair plus jet production

Here, we study interference effects in the production channel ZZ + jet, in particular focusing on the role of the Higgs boson. This production channel receives contributions both from Higgs boson mediated diagrams via the decay H → ZZ (signal diagrams), as well as from diagrams where the Z bosons couple directly to a quark loop (background diagrams). We consider the partonic processes gggZZ and gq$\bar{q}$ZZ in which interference between signal and background diagrams first occurs. Since interference is primarily an off-resonant effect for the Higgs boson, we treat the Z bosons as on shell. Thus our analysis is limited to the region above threshold, where the invariant mass of the Z-pair mZZ satisfies the condition m ZZ >2m Z . In the region m ZZ > 300 GeV we find that the interference in the ZZ + jet channel is qualitatively similar to interference in the inclusive ZZ channel. Moreover, the rates are sufficient to study these effects at the LHC once jet-binned data become available.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Higgs mass, superconnections, and the TeV-scale left-right symmetric model

We discuss the physical implications of formulating the Standard Model (SM) in terms of the superconnection formalism involving the superalgebra su(2/1). In particular, we discuss the prediction of the Higgs mass according to the formalism and point out that it is ~170 GeV, in clear disagreement with experiment. To remedy this problem, we extend the formalism to the superalgebra su(2/2), which extends the SM to the left-right symmetric model (LRSM) and accommodates a ~126 GeV Higgs. Both the SM in the su(2/1) case and the LRSM in the su(2/2) case are argued to emerge at ~4 TeV from an underlying theory in which the spacetime geometry is modified by the addition of a discrete extra dimension. The formulation of the exterior derivative in this model space suggests a deep connection between the modified geometry, which can be described in the language of non-commutative geometry (NCG), and the spontaneous breaking of the gauge symmetries. The implication is that spontaneous symmetry breaking could actually be geometric/quantum gravitational in nature. The non-decoupling phenomenon seen in the Higgs sector can then be reinterpreted in a new light as due to the mixing of low energy (SM) physics and high energy physics associated with quantum gravity, such as string theory. In conclusion, the phenomenology of a TeV scale LRSM is also discussed, and we argue that some exciting discoveries may await us at the LHC, and other near-future experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Improving Higgs coupling measurements through ZZ Fusion at the ILC

In this study, we evaluate the e - e + → e - e + + h process through the ZZ fusion channel at the International Linear Collider operating at 500 GeV and 1 TeV center-of-mass energies. We perform realistic simulations on the signal process and background processes. With judicious kinematic cuts, we find that the inclusive cross section can be measured to 2.9% after combining the 500 GeV at 500 fb -1 and 1 TeV at 1 ab -1 runs. A multivariate log-likelihood analysis further improves the precision of the cross section measurement to 2.3%. We discuss the overall improvement to model-independent Higgs width and coupling determinations and demonstrate the use of different channels in distinguishing new physics effects in Higgs physics. Our study demonstrates the importance of the ZZ fusion channel to Higgs precision physics, which has often been neglected in the literature.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Constraints on the spin-parity and anomalous HVV couplings of the Higgs boson in proton collisions at 7 and 8 TeV

Our study of the spin-parity and tensor structure of the interactions of the recently discovered Higgs boson is performed using the H→ZZ,Zγ*,γ*γ*→4ℓ, H→WW→ℓνℓν, and H→γγ decay modes. The full data set recorded by the CMS experiment during the LHC run 1 is used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 5.1 fb -1 at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and up to 19.7 fb -1 at 8 TeV. A wide range of spin-two models is excluded at a 99% confidence level or higher, or at a 99.87% confidence level for the minimal gravitylike couplings, regardless of whether assumptions are made on the production mechanism. Any mixed-parity spin-one state is excluded in the ZZ and WW modes at a greater than 99.999% confidence level. Under the hypothesis that the resonance is a spin-zero boson, the tensor structure of the interactions of the Higgs boson with two vector bosons ZZ, Zγ, γγ, and WW is investigated and limits on eleven anomalous contributions are set. Furthermore, the tighter constraints on anomalous HVV interactions are obtained by combining the HZZand HWW measurements. All observations are consistent with the expectations for the standard model Higgs boson with the quantum numbers J PC =0 ++ .

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Stealth Dark Matter: Dark scalar baryons through the Higgs portal

We present a new model of "Stealth Dark Matter": a composite baryonic scalar of an SU(N D ) strongly coupled theory with even N D ≥ 4. All mass scales are technically natural, and dark matter stability is automatic without imposing an additional discrete or global symmetry. Constituent fermions transform in vectorlike representations of the electroweak group that permit both electroweak-breaking and electroweak-preserving mass terms. This gives a tunable coupling of stealth dark matter to the Higgs boson independent of the dark matter mass itself. We specialize to SU(4), and investigate the constraints on the model from dark meson decay, electroweak precision measurements, basic collider limits, and spin-independent direct detection scattering through Higgs exchange. We exploit our earlier lattice simulations that determined the composite spectrum as well as the effective Higgs coupling of stealth dark matter in order to place bounds from direct detection, excluding constituent fermions with dominantly electroweak-breaking masses. A lower bound on the dark baryon mass m B ≳ 300 GeV is obtained from the indirect requirement that the lightest dark meson not be observable at LEP II. Furthermore, we briefly survey some intriguing properties of stealth dark matter that are worthy of future study, including collider studies of dark meson production and decay; indirect detection signals from annihilation; relic abundance estimates for both symmetric and asymmetric mechanisms; and direct detection through electromagnetic polarizability, a detailed study of which will appear in a companion paper.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Interference effect on a heavy Higgs resonance signal in the γ γ and Z Z channels

The resonance-continuum interference is usually neglected when the width of a resonance is small compared to the resonance mass. We reexamine this standard by studying the interference effects in high-resolution decay channels, γγ and ZZ, of the heavy Higgs boson H in nearly aligned two-Higgs-doublet models. For the H with a sub-percent width-to-mass ratio, we find that, in the parameter space where the LHC 14 TeV ZZ resonance search can be sensitive, the interference effects can modify the ZZ signal rate by O(10)% and the exclusion reach by O(10) GeV. In other parameter space where the ZZ or γγ signal rate is smaller, the LHC 14 TeV reach is absent, but a resonance shape can be much more dramatically changed. In particular, the γγ signal rate can change by O(100)%. Relevant to such parameter space, we suggest variables that can characterize a general resonance shape. Furthermore, we also illustrate the relevance of the width on the interference by adding nonstandard decay modes of the heavy Higgs boson.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Higgs-like boson at 750 GeV and genesis of baryons

Here, we propose that the diphoton excess at 750 GeV reported by ATLAS and CMS is due to the decay of an exo-Higgs scalar η associated with the breaking of a new SU(2) e symmetry, dubbed exo-spin. New fermions, exo-quarks and exo-leptons, get TeV-scale masses through Yukawa couplings with η and generate its couplings to gluons and photons at one loop. Furthermore, the matter content of our model yields a B-L anomaly under SU(2) e , whose breaking we assume entails a first-order phase transition. A nontrivial B-L asymmetry may therefore be generated in the early Universe, potentially providing a baryogenesis mechanism through the Standard Model (SM) sphaleron processes. The spontaneous breaking of SU(2) e can, in principle, directly lead to electroweak symmetry breaking, thereby accounting for the proximity of the mass scales of the SM Higgs and the exo-Higgs. This model can be distinguished from those comprising a singlet scalar and vector fermions by the discovery of TeV scale exo-vector bosons, corresponding to the broken SU(2) e generators, at the LHC.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Probing light thermal dark matter with a Higgs portal mediator

We systematically study light (<few GeV) dark matter (DM) models that thermalize with visible matter through the Higgs portal and identify the remaining gaps in the viable parameter space. Such models require a comparably light scalar mediator that mixes with the Higgs to avoid DM overproduction and can be classified according to whether this mediator decays (in)visibly. In a representative benchmark model with Dirac fermion DM, we find that, even with conservative assumptions about the DM-mediator coupling and mass ratio, the regime in which the mediator is heavier than the DM is fully ruled out by a combination of collider, rare meson decay, and direct detection limits; future and planned experiments including NA62 can further improve sensitivity to scenarios in which the Higgs portal interaction does not determine the DM abundance. The opposite regime in which the mediator is lighter than the DM and the latter annihilates to pairs of visibly decaying mediators is still viable, but much of the parameter space is covered by rare meson decay, supernova cooling, beam dump, and direct detection constraints. Nearly all of these conclusions apply broadly to the simplest variations (e.g., scalar or asymmetric DM). Future experiments including SHiP, NEWS, and Super-CDMS SNOLAB can greatly improve coverage to this class of models.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Measurement of the Higgs boson mass and e + e - → Z H cross section using Z → μ + μ - and Z → e + e - at the ILC

This paper presents a full simulation study of the measurement of the production cross section(ZH) of the Higgsstrahlung process e+e- ZH and the Higgs boson mass (MH) at the International Linear Collider (ILC), using events in which a Higgs boson recoils against a Z boson decaying into a pair of muons or electrons. The analysis is carried out for three center-of-mass energiesps =250, 350, and 500 GeV, and two beam polarizations e L e+ R and e Re+L , for which the polarizationsof e and e+ are Pe-; Pe+ =(-80%, +30%) and (+80%, -30%), respectively. Assuming an integrated luminosity of 250 fb1 for each beam polarization at ps = 250 GeV, where the best lepton momentum resolution is obtainable, ZH and MH can be determined with a precision of 2.5%and 37 MeV for e L e+R and 2.9% and 41 MeV for e-Re+L , respectively. Regarding a 20 year ILC physics program, the expected precisions for the HZZ coupling and MH are estimated to be 0.4% and 14MeV, respectively. The event selection is designed to optimize the precisions of ZH and MH while minimizing the bias on the measured ZH due to discrepancy in signal efficiencies among Higgs decay modes. For the first time, model independence has been demonstrated to a sub-percent level for the ZH measurement at each of the three center-of-mass energies. The results presented show the impact of center-of-mass energy and beam polarization on the evaluated precisons and serve as

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Search for a Low-Mass Standard Model Higgs Boson in the ττ Decay Channel in pp̄ Collisions at √s=1.96 TeV

We report on a search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into pairs of τ leptons in pp̄ collisions produced by the Tevatron at √s=1.96 TeV. The analyzed data sample was recorded by the CDFII detector and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 6.0 fb⁻¹. The search is performed in the final state with one τ decaying leptonically and the second one identified through its semihadronic decay. Since no significant excess is observed, a 95% credibility level upper limit on the production cross section times branching ratio to the ττ final state is set for hypothetical Higgs boson masses between 100 and 150 GeV/c². For a Higgs boson of 120 GeV/c² the observed (expected) limit is 14.6 (15.3) the predicted value.

Aaltonen, T.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Search for a Charged Higgs Boson Produced in the Vector-Boson Fusion Mode with Decay H ± → W ± Z using p p Collisions at s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS Experiment

A search for a charged Higgs boson, H ± , decaying to a W ± boson and a Z boson is presented. The search is based on 20.3 fb⁻¹ of proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The H ± boson is assumed to be produced via vector-boson fusion and the decays W ± →qq'¯ and Z→e⁺e⁻/μ⁺μ⁻ are considered. The search is performed in a range of charged Higgs boson masses from 200 to 1000 GeV. No evidence for the production of an H ± boson is observed. Upper limits of 31–1020 fb at 95% C.L. are placed on the cross section for vector-boson fusion production of an H ± boson times its branching fraction to W ± Z. The limits are compared with predictions from the Georgi-Machacek Higgs triplet model.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Interference in the g g → h → γ γ On-Shell Rate and the Higgs Boson Total Width

Here, we consider interference between the Higgs signal and QCD background in $gg\rightarrow h \rightarrow \gamma\gamma$ and its effect on the on-shell Higgs rate. The existence of sizable strong phases leads to destructive interference of about 2% of the on-shell cross section in the Standard Model. This effect can be enhanced by beyond the standard model physics. In particular, since it scales differently from the usual rates, the presence of interference allows indirect limits to be placed on the Higgs width in a novel way, using on-shell rate measurements. Our study motivates further QCD calculations to reduce uncertainties. We discuss potential width-sensitive observables, both using total and differential rates and find that the HL-LHC can potentially indirectly probe widths of order tens of MeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Inclusive search for a highly boosted Higgs boson decaying to a bottom quark-antiquark pair

An inclusive search for the standard model Higgs boson (H) produced with large transverse momentum (pT) and decaying to a bottom quark-antiquark pair (bb¯) is performed using a data set of pp collisions at s=13 TeV collected with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb-1. A highly Lorentz-boosted Higgs boson decaying to bb¯ is reconstructed as a single, large radius jet, and it is identified using jet substructure and dedicated b tagging techniques. The method is validated with Z→bb¯ decays. The Z→bb¯ process is observed for the first time in the single-jet topology with a local significance of 5.1 standard deviations (5.8 expected). For a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV, an excess of events above the expected background is observed (expected) with a local significance of 1.5 (0.7) standard deviations. The measured cross section times branching fraction for production via gluon fusion of H→bb¯ with reconstructed pT>450 GeV and in the pseudorapidity range -2.5<η<2.5 is 74±48(stat)-10+17(syst) fb, which is consistent within uncertainties with the standard model prediction.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Search for the Higgs Boson Decaying to Two Muons in Proton-Proton Collisions at s = 13 TeV

Here, a search for the Higgs boson decaying to two oppositely charged muons is presented using data recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016 at a center-of-mass energy √s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb -1 . Data are found to be compatible with the predicted background. For a Higgs boson with a mass of 125.09 GeV, the 95% confidence level observed (background-only expected) upper limit on the production cross section times the branching fraction to a pair of muons is found to be 3.0 (2.5) times the standard model expectation. In combination with data recorded at center-of-mass energies √s=7 and 8 TeV, the background-only expected upper limit improves to 2.2 times the standard model value with a standard model expected significance of 1.0 standard deviation. The corresponding observed upper limit is 2.9 with an observed significance of 0.9 standard deviation. This corresponds to an observed upper limit on the standard model Higgs boson branching fraction to muons of 6.4×10 -4 and to an observed signal strength of 1.0 ± 1.0(stat) ± 0.1(syst).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗