Showing papers on "Higgs boson published in 2013"

Review of particle physics

Abstract: Phys. Rev. D 86, 010001 REVIEW OF PARTICLE PHYSICS* Particle Data Group Abstract This biennial Review summarizes much of particle physics. Using data from previous editions, plus 2658 new measurements from 644 papers, we list, evaluate, and average measured properties of gauge bosons, leptons, quarks, mesons, and baryons. We summarize searches for hypothetical particles such as Higgs bosons, heavy neutrinos, and supersymmetric particles. All the particle properties and search limits are listed in Summary Tables. We also give numerous tables, figures, formulae, and reviews of topics such as the Standard Model, particle detectors, probability, and statistics. Among the 112 reviews are many that are new or heavily revised including those on Heavy-Quark and Soft-Collinear Effective Theory, Neutrino Cross Section Measurements, Monte Carlo Event Generators, Lattice QCD, Heavy Quarkonium Spectroscopy, Top Quark, Dark Matter, V cb & V ub , Quantum Chromodynamics, High-Energy Collider Parameters, Astrophysical Constants, Cosmological Parameters, and Dark Matter. A booklet is available containing the Summary Tables and abbreviated versions of some of the other sections of this full Review. All tables, listings, and reviews (and errata) are also available on the Particle Data Group website: http://pdg.lbl.gov. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.86.010001 The 2012 edition of Review of Particle Physics is published for the Particle Data Group as article 010001 in volume 86 of Physical Review D. This edition should be cited as: J. Beringer et al. (Particle Data Group), Phys. Rev. D 86, 010001 (2012). c 2012 Regents of the University of California ∗ The publication of the Review of Particle Physics is supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics, the Division of High Energy Physics of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE–AC02–05CH11231; by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Agreement No. PHY-0652989; by the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN); by an implementing arrangement between the governments of Japan (MEXT: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and the United States (DOE) on cooperative research and development; and by the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN).

Investigating the near-criticality of the Higgs boson

Abstract: We extract from data the parameters of the Higgs potential, the top Yukawa coupling and the electroweak gauge couplings with full 2-loop NNLO precision, and we extrapolate the SM parameters up to large energies with full 3-loop NNLO RGE precision. Then we study the phase diagram of the Standard Model in terms of high-energy parameters, finding that the measured Higgs mass roughly corresponds to the minimum values of the Higgs quartic and top Yukawa and the maximum value of the gauge couplings allowed by vacuum metastability. We discuss various theoretical interpretations of the near-criticality of the Higgs mass.

Handbook of LHC Higgs Cross Sections: 3. Higgs Properties

Abstract: This Report summarizes the results of the activities in 2012 and the first half of 2013 of the LHC Higgs Cross Section Working Group. The main goal of the working group was to present the state of the art of Higgs Physics at the LHC, integrating all new results that have appeared in the last few years. This report follows the first working group report Handbook of LHC Higgs Cross Sections: 1. Inclusive Observables (CERN-2011-002) and the second working group report Handbook of LHC Higgs Cross Sections: 2. Differential Distributions (CERN-2012-002). After the discovery of a Higgs boson at the LHC in mid-2012 this report focuses on refined prediction of Standard Model (SM) Higgs phenomenology around the experimentally observed value of 125-126 GeV, refined predictions for heavy SM-like Higgs bosons as well as predictions in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model and first steps to go beyond these models. The other main focus is on the extraction of the characteristics and properties of the newly discovered particle such as couplings to SM particles, spin and CP-quantum numbers etc.

Observation of a new boson with mass near 125 GeV in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ and 8 TeV

Abstract: A detailed description is reported of the analysis used by the CMS Collaboration in the search for the standard model Higgs boson in pp collisions at the LHC, which led to the observation of a new boson. The data sample corresponds to integrated luminosities up to 5.1 inverse femtobarns at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, and up to 5.3 inverse femtobarns at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV. The results for five Higgs boson decay modes gamma gamma, ZZ, WW, tau tau, and bb, which show a combined local significance of 5 standard deviations near 125 GeV, are reviewed. A fit to the invariant mass of the two high resolution channels, gamma gamma and ZZ to 4 ell, gives a mass estimate of 125.3 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst) GeV. The measurements are interpreted in the context of the standard model Lagrangian for the scalar Higgs field interacting with fermions and vector bosons. The measured values of the corresponding couplings are compared to the standard model predictions. The hypothesis of custodial symmetry is tested through the measurement of the ratio of the couplings to the W and Z bosons. All the results are consistent, within their uncertainties, with the expectations for a standard model Higgs boson.

The International Linear Collider Technical Design Report - Volume 2: Physics

Abstract: Author(s): Baer, Howard; Barklow, Tim; Fujii, Keisuke; Gao, Yuanning; Hoang, Andre; Kanemura, Shinya; List, Jenny; Logan, Heather E; Nomerotski, Andrei; Perelstein, Maxim; Peskin, Michael E; Poschl, Roman; Reuter, Jurgen; Riemann, Sabine; Savoy-Navarro, Aurore; Servant, Geraldine; Tait, Tim MP; Yu, Jaehoon | Abstract: The International Linear Collider Technical Design Report (TDR) describes in four volumes the physics case and the design of a 500 GeV centre-of-mass energy linear electron-positron collider based on superconducting radio-frequency technology using Niobium cavities as the accelerating structures. The accelerator can be extended to 1 TeV and also run as a Higgs factory at around 250 GeV and on the Z0 pole. A comprehensive value estimate of the accelerator is give, together with associated uncertainties. It is shown that no significant technical issues remain to be solved. Once a site is selected and the necessary site-dependent engineering is carried out, construction can begin immediately. The TDR also gives baseline documentation for two high-performance detectors that can share the ILC luminosity by being moved into and out of the beam line in a "push-pull" configuration. These detectors, ILD and SiD, are described in detail. They form the basis for a world-class experimental programme that promises to increase significantly our understanding of the fundamental processes that govern the evolution of the Universe.

Handbook of LHC Higgs Cross Sections: 3. Higgs Properties

Abstract: This Report summarizes the results of the activities in 2012 and the first half of 2013 of the LHC Higgs Cross Section Working Group. The main goal of the working group was to present the state of the art of Higgs Physics at the LHC, integrating all new results that have appeared in the last few years. This report follows the first working group report Handbook of LHC Higgs Cross Sections: 1. Inclusive Observables (CERN-2011-002) and the second working group report Handbook of LHC Higgs Cross Sections: 2. Differential Distributions (CERN-2012-002). After the discovery of a Higgs boson at the LHC in mid-2012 this report focuses on refined prediction of Standard Model (SM) Higgs phenomenology around the experimentally observed value of 125-126 GeV, refined predictions for heavy SM-like Higgs bosons as well as predictions in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model and first steps to go beyond these models. The other main focus is on the extraction of the characteristics and properties of the newly discovered particle such as couplings to SM particles, spin and CP-quantum numbers etc.

Renormalization Group Evolution of the Standard Model Dimension Six Operators I: Formalism and lambda Dependence

Abstract: We calculate the order \lambda, \lambda^2 and \lambda y^2 terms of the 59 x 59 one-loop anomalous dimension matrix of dimension-six operators, where \lambda and y are the Standard Model Higgs self-coupling and a generic Yukawa coupling, respectively. The dimension-six operators modify the running of the Standard Model parameters themselves, and we compute the complete one-loop result for this. We discuss how there is mixing between operators for which no direct one-particle-irreducible diagram exists, due to operator replacements by the equations of motion.

Renormalization group evolution of the standard model dimension six operators. I: formalism and λ dependence

Abstract: We calculate the order λ, λ2 and λy 2 terms of the 59 × 59 one-loop anomalous dimension matrix of dimension-six operators, where λ and y are the Standard Model Higgs self-coupling and a generic Yukawa coupling, respectively. The dimension-six operators modify the running of the Standard Model parameters themselves, and we compute the complete one-loop result for this. We discuss how there is mixing between operators for which no direct one-particle-irreducible diagram exists, due to operator replacements by the equations of motion.

Automatic spin-entangled decays of heavy resonances in Monte Carlo simulations

Abstract: We present a general method that allows one to decay narrow resonances in Les Houches Monte Carlo events in an efficient and accurate way. The procedure preserves both spin correlation and finite width effects to a very good accuracy, and is therefore particularly suited for the decay of resonances in production events generated at next-to-leading-order accuracy. The method is implemented as a generic tool in the Mad-Graph5 framework, giving access to a very large set of possible applications. We illustrate the validity of the method and the code by applying it to the case of single top and top quark pair production, and show its capabilities on the case of top quark pair production in association with a Higgs boson.

Renormalization Group Evolution of the Standard Model Dimension Six Operators III: Gauge Coupling Dependence and Phenomenology

Abstract: We calculate the gauge terms of the one-loop anomalous dimension matrix for the dimension-six operators of the Standard Model effective field theory (SM EFT). Combining these results with our previous results for the $\lambda$ and Yukawa coupling terms completes the calculation of the one-loop anomalous dimension matrix for the dimension-six operators. There are 1350 $CP$-even and $1149$ $CP$-odd parameters in the dimension-six Lagrangian for 3 generations, and our results give the entire $2499 \times 2499$ anomalous dimension matrix. We discuss how the renormalization of the dimension-six operators, and the additional renormalization of the dimension $d \le 4$ terms of the SM Lagrangian due to dimension-six operators, lays the groundwork for future precision studies of the SM EFT aimed at constraining the effects of new physics through precision measurements at the electroweak scale. As some sample applications, we discuss some aspects of the full RGE improved result for essential processes such as $gg \to h$, $h \to \gamma \gamma$ and $h \to Z \gamma$, for Higgs couplings to fermions, for the precision electroweak parameters $S$ and $T$, and for the operators that modify important processes in precision electroweak phenomenology, such as the three-body Higgs boson decay $h \rightarrow Z \, \ell^+ \, \ell^-$ and triple gauge boson couplings. We discuss how the renormalization group improved results can be used to study the flavor problem in the SM EFT, and to test the minimal flavor violation (MFV) hypothesis. We briefly discuss the renormalization effects on the dipole coefficient $C_{e\gamma}$ which contributes to $\mu \to e \gamma$ and to the muon and electron magnetic and electric dipole moments.

Effective Lagrangian for a light Higgs-like scalar

Abstract: We reconsider the effective Lagrangian that describes a light Higgs-like boson and better clarify a few issues which were not exhaustively addressed in the previous literature. In particular we highlight the strategy to determine whether the dynamics responsible for the electroweak symmetry breaking is weakly or strongly interacting. We also discuss how the effective Lagrangian can be implemented into automatic tools for the calculation of Higgs decay rates and production cross sections.

Handbook of vectorlike quarks: Mixing and single production

Abstract: We obtain constraints on the mixing of vectorlike quarks coupling predominantly to the third generation. We consider all (seven) relevant types of vectorlike quarks, individually. The constraints are derived from oblique corrections and $Z\ensuremath{\rightarrow}b\overline{b}$ measurements at the Large Electron-Positron (LEP) Collider and the Stanford Linear Collider. We investigate the implications of these constraints on LHC phenomenology, concerning the decays of the heavy quarks and their single production. We also explore indirect effects of heavy quark mixing in top and bottom couplings. A remarkable effect is the possibility of explaining the anomalous forward-backward asymmetry in $Z\ensuremath{\rightarrow}b\overline{b}$ at the LEP with a hypercharge $\ensuremath{-}5/6$ doublet. We also study the impact of the new quarks on single Higgs production at the LHC and Higgs decay.

The measurement of the Higgs self-coupling at the LHC: theoretical status

Abstract: Now that the Higgs boson has been observed by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC, the next important step would be to measure accurately its properties to establish the details of the electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism. Among the measurements which need to be performed, the determination of the Higgs self-coupling in processes where the Higgs boson is produced in pairs is of utmost importance. In this paper, we discuss the various processes which allow for the measurement of the trilinear Higgs coupling: double Higgs production in gluon fusion, vector boson fusion, double Higgs-strahlung and associated production with a top quark pair. We first evaluate the production cross sections for these processes at the LHC with center-of-mass energies ranging from the present $ \sqrt{s}=8 $ TeV to $ \sqrt{s}=100 $ TeV, and discuss their sensitivity to the trilinear Higgs coupling. We include the various higher order QCD radiative corrections, at next-to-leading order for gluon and vector boson fusion and at next-to-next-to-leading order for associated double Higgs production with a gauge boson. The theoretical uncertainties on these cross sections are estimated. Finally, we discuss the various channels which could allow for the detection of the double Higgs production signal at the LHC and estimate their potential to probe the trilinear Higgs coupling.

Flavor Violating Higgs Decays

Abstract: We study a class of nonstandard interactions of the newly discovered 125 GeV Higgs-like resonance that are especially interesting probes of new physics: flavor violating Higgs couplings to leptons and quarks. These interaction can arise in many frameworks of new physics at the electroweak scale such as two Higgs doublet models, extra dimensions, or models of compositeness. We rederive constraints on flavor violating Higgs couplings using data on rare decays, electric and magnetic dipole moments, and meson oscillations. We confirm that flavor violating Higgs boson decays to leptons can be sizeable with, e.g., h → τμ and h → τe branching ratios of $ \mathcal{O} $ (10%) perfectly allowed by low energy constraints. We estimate the current LHC limits on h → τμ and h → τe decays by recasting existing searches for the SM Higgs in the ττ channel and find that these bounds are already stronger than those from rare tau decays. We also show that these limits can be improved significantly with dedicated searches and we outline a possible search strategy. Flavor violating Higgs decays therefore present an opportunity for discovery of new physics which in some cases may be easier to access experimentally than flavor conserving deviations from the Standard Model Higgs framework.

Study of the Mass and Spin-Parity of the Higgs Boson Candidate via Its Decays to Z Boson Pairs

Abstract: A study is presented of the mass and spin-parity of the new boson recently observed at the LHC at a mass near 125 GeV. An integrated luminosity of 17.3 fb^(-1), collected by the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, is used. The measured mass in the ZZ channel, where both Z bosons decay to e or μ pairs, is 126.2±0.6(stat)±0.2(syst) GeV. The angular distributions of the lepton pairs in this channel are sensitive to the spin-parity of the boson. Under the assumption of spin 0, the present data are consistent with the pure scalar hypothesis, while disfavoring the pure pseudoscalar hypothesis.

First Look at the Physics Case of TLEP

Abstract: The discovery by the ATLAS and CMS experiments of a new boson with mass around 125 GeV and with measured properties compatible with those of a Standard-Model Higgs boson, coupled with the absence of discoveries of phenomena beyond the Standard Model at the TeV scale, has triggered interest in ideas for future Higgs factories. A new circular e+e- collider hosted in a 80 to 100 km tunnel, TLEP, is among the most attractive solutions proposed so far. It has a clean experimental environment, produces high luminosity for top-quark, Higgs boson, W and Z studies, accommodates multiple detectors, and can reach energies up to the t-tbar threshold and beyond. It will enable measurements of the Higgs boson properties and of Electroweak Symmetry-Breaking (EWSB) parameters with unequalled precision, offering exploration of physics beyond the Standard Model in the multi-TeV range. Moreover, being the natural precursor of the VHE-LHC, a 100 TeV hadron machine in the same tunnel, it builds up a long-term vision for particle physics. Altogether, the combination of TLEP and the VHE-LHC offers, for a great cost effectiveness, the best precision and the best search reach of all options presently on the market. This paper presents a first appraisal of the salient features of the TLEP physics potential, to serve as a baseline for a more extensive design study.

Exact results in D = 2 supersymmetric gauge theories

Abstract: We compute exactly the partition function of two dimensional $ \mathcal{N} $ = (2, 2) gauge theories on S 2 and show that it admits two dual descriptions: either as an integral over the Coulomb branch or as a sum over vortex and anti-vortex excitations on the Higgs branches of the theory. We further demonstrate that correlation functions in two dimensional Liouville/Toda CFT compute the S 2 partition function for a class of $ \mathcal{N} $ = (2, 2) gauge theories, thereby uncovering novel modular properties in two dimensional gauge theories. Some of these gauge theories flow in the infrared to Calabi-Yau sigma models — such as the conifold — and the topology changing flop transition is realized as crossing symmetry in Liouville/Toda CFT. Evidence for Seiberg duality in two dimensions is exhibited by demonstrating that the partition function of conjectured Seiberg dual pairs are the same.

Global fit to Higgs signal strengths and couplings and implications for extended Higgs sectors

Abstract: The most recent LHC data have provided a considerable improvement in the precision with which various Higgs production and decay channels have been measured. Using all available public results from ATLAS, CMS and the Tevatron, we derive for each final state the combined confidence level contours for the signal strengths in the (gluon fusion + ttH associated production) versus (vector boson fusion + VH associated production) space. These “combined signal strength ellipses” can be used in a simple, generic way to constrain a very wide class of New Physics models in which the couplings of the Higgs boson deviate from the Standard Model prediction. Here, we use them to constrain the reduced couplings of the Higgs boson to up-quarks, down-quarks/leptons and vector boson pairs. We also consider New Physics contributions to the loop-induced gluon-gluon and photon-photon couplings of the Higgs, as well as invisible/unseen decays. Finally, we apply our fits to some simple models with an extended Higgs sector, in particular to Two-Higgs-Doublet models of Type I and Type II, the Inert Doublet model, and the Georgi–Machacek triplet Higgs model.

Cosmological constant and vacuum energy: old and new ideas

Abstract: The cosmological constant (CC) term in Einstein's equations, Λ, was first associated to the idea of vacuum energy density. Notwithstanding, it is well-known that there is a huge, in fact appalling, discrepancy between the theoretical prediction and the observed value picked from the modern cosmological data. This is the famous, and extremely difficult, "CC problem". Paradoxically, the recent observation at the CERN Large Hadron Collider of a Higgs-like particle, should actually be considered ambivalent: on the one hand it appears as a likely great triumph of particle physics, but on the other hand it wide opens Pandora's box of the cosmological uproar, for it may provide (alas!) the experimental certification of the existence of the electroweak (EW) vacuum energy, and thus of the intriguing reality of the CC problem. Even if only counting on this contribution to the inventory of vacuum energies in the universe, the discrepancy with the cosmologically observed value is already of 55 orders of magnitude. This is the (hitherto) "real" magnitude of the CC problem, rather than the (too often) brandished 123 ones from the upper (but fully unexplored!) ultrahigh energy scales. Such is the baffling situation after 96 years of introducing the Λ-term by Einstein. In the following I will briefly (and hopefully pedagogically) fly over some of the old and new ideas on the CC problem. Since, however, the Higgs boson just knocked our door and recalled us that the vacuum energy may be a fully tangible concept in real phenomenology, I will exclusively address the CC problem from the original notion of vacuum energy, and its possible "running" with the expansion of the universe, rather than venturing into the numberless attempts to replace the CC by the multifarious concept of dark energy.

Higgs Boson pair production at next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD.

Abstract: We compute the next-to-next-to-leading order QCD corrections for standard model Higgs boson pair production inclusive cross section at hadron colliders within the large top-mass approximation. We provide numerical results for the LHC, finding that the corrections are large, resulting in an increase of $\mathcal{O}(20%)$ with respect to the next-to-leading order result at c.m. energy $\sqrt{{s}_{H}}=14\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{TeV}$. We observe a substantial reduction in the scale dependence, with overlap between the current and previous order prediction. All our results are normalized using the full top- and bottom-mass dependence at leading order. We also provide analytical expressions for the $K$ factors as a function of ${s}_{H}$.

Dark matter in the inert doublet model after the discovery of a Higgs-like boson at the LHC

Abstract: We examine the Inert Doublet Model in light of the discovery of a Higgs-like boson with a mass of roughly 126 GeV at the LHC. We evaluate one-loop corrections to the scalar masses and perform a numerical solution of the one-loop renormalization group equations. Demanding vacuum stability, perturbativity, and S-matrix unitarity, we compute the scale up to which the model can be extrapolated. From this we derive constraints on the model parameters in the presence of a 126 GeV Higgs boson. We perform an improved calculation of the dark matter relic density with the Higgs mass fixed to the measured value, taking into account the effects of three- and four-body final states resulting from off-shell production of gauge bosons in dark matter annihilation. Issues related to direct detection of dark matter are discussed, in particular the role of hadronic uncertainties. The predictions for the interesting decay mode h 0 → γγ are presented for scenarios which fulfill all model constraints, and we discuss how a potential enhancement of this rate from the charged inert scalar is related to the properties of dark matter in this model. We also apply LHC limits on Higgs boson decays to invisible final states, which provide additional constraints on the mass of the dark matter candidate. Finally, we propose three benchmark points that capture different aspects of the relevant phenomenology.

Light top partners for a light composite Higgs

Abstract: Anomalously light fermionic partners of the top quark often appear in explicit constructions, such as the 5d holographic models, where the Higgs is a light composite pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson and its potential is generated radiatively by top quark loops. We show that this is due to a structural correlation among the mass of the partners and the one of the Higgs boson. Because of this correlation, the presence of light partners could be essential to obtain a realistic Higgs mass. We quantitatively confirm this generic prediction, which applies to a broad class of composite Higgs models, by studying the simplest calculable framework with a composite Higgs, the Discrete Composite Higgs Model. In this setup we show analytically that the requirement of a light enough Higgs strongly constraints the fermionic spectrum and makes the light partners appear. The light top partners thus provide the most promising manifestation of the composite Higgs scenario at the LHC. Conversely, the lack of observation of these states can put strong restrictions on the parameter space of the model. A simple analysis of the 7-TeV LHC searches presently available already gives some non-trivial constraint. The strongest bound comes from the exclusion of the 5/3-charged partner. Even if no dedicated LHC search exists for this particle, a bound of 611 GeV is derived by adapting the CMS search of bottom-like states in same-sign dileptons.

Direct detection of Higgs–portal dark matter at the LHC

Abstract: We consider the process in which a Higgs particle is produced in association with jets and show that monojet searches at the LHC already provide interesting constraints on the invisible decays of a 125 GeV Higgs boson. Using the latest monojet search performed by the CMS collaboration with 4.7 fb−1 of data, we set the 95 % confidence level limit on the invisible Higgs decay rate to be less than the total Higgs rate in the Standard Model. This limit could be significantly improved when more data at higher center of mass energies are collected, provided systematic errors on the Standard Model contribution to the monojet background can be reduced. In the context of Higgs portal models of dark matter, we then discuss how the LHC limits on the invisible Higgs branching fraction impose strong constraints on the dark matter scattering cross section on nucleons probed in direct detection experiments.

Investigating the near-criticality of the Higgs boson

Abstract: We extract from data the parameters of the Higgs potential, the top Yukawa coupling and the electroweak gauge couplings with full 2-loop NNLO precision, and we extrapolate the SM parameters up to large energies with full 3-loop NNLO RGE precision. Then we study the phase diagram of the Standard Model in terms of high-energy parameters, finding that the measured Higgs mass roughly corresponds to the minimum values of the Higgs quartic and top Yukawa and the maximum value of the gauge couplings allowed by vacuum metastability. We discuss various theoretical interpretations of the near-criticality of the Higgs mass.

MSSM Higgs boson searches at the LHC: benchmark scenarios after the discovery of a Higgs-like particle

Abstract: A Higgs-like particle with a mass of about 125.5 GeV has been discovered at the LHC. Within the current experimental uncertainties, this new state is compatible with both the predictions for the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson and with the Higgs sector in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We propose new low-energy MSSM benchmark scenarios that, over a wide parameter range, are compatible with the mass and production rates of the observed signal. These scenarios also exhibit interesting phenomenology for the MSSM Higgs sector. We propose a slightly updated version of the well-known $m_{h}^{\max}$ scenario, and a modified scenario ( $m_{h}^{\mathrm{mod}}$ ), where the light $\mathcal{CP}$ -even Higgs boson can be interpreted as the LHC signal in large parts of the M A –tanβ plane. Furthermore, we define a light stop scenario that leads to a suppression of the lightest $\mathcal{CP}$ -even Higgs gluon fusion rate, and a light stau scenario with an enhanced decay rate of h→γγ at large tanβ. We also suggest a τ-phobic Higgs scenario in which the lightest Higgs can have suppressed couplings to down-type fermions. We propose to supplement the specified value of the μ parameter in some of these scenarios with additional values of both signs. This has a significant impact on the interpretation of searches for the non-SM-like MSSM Higgs bosons. We also discuss the sensitivity of the searches to heavy Higgs decays into light charginos and neutralinos, and to decays of the form H→hh. Finally, in addition to all the other scenarios where the lightest $\mathcal{CP}$ -even Higgs is interpreted as the LHC signal, we propose a low-M H scenario, where instead the heavy $\mathcal{CP}$ -even Higgs boson corresponds to the new state around 125.5 GeV.

A framework for Higgs characterisation

Abstract: We introduce a framework, based on an effective field theory approach, that allows one to perform characterisation studies of the boson recently discovered at the LHC, for all the relevant channels and in a consistent, systematic and accurate way. The production and decay of such a boson with various spin and parity assignments can be simulated by means of multi-parton, tree-level matrix elements and of next-to-leading order QCD calculations, both matched with parton showers. Several sample applications are presented which show, in particular, that beyond-leading-order effects in QCD have nontrivial phenomenological implications.