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Higgs signal for h {yields} aa at hadron colliders.

Journal Article · · JHEP
We assess the prospect of observing a neutral Higgs boson at hadron colliders in its decay to two spin-zero states, a, for a Higgs mass of 90-130 GeV, when produced in association with a W or Z boson. Such a decay is allowed in extensions of the MSSM with CP-violating interactions and in the NMSSM, and can dominate Higgs boson final states, thereby evading the LEP constraints on standard Higgs boson production. The light spin-zero state decays primarily via a {yields} b{bar b} and {tau}{sup +}{tau}{sup -}, so this signal channel retains features distinct from the main backgrounds. Our study shows that at the Tevatron, there may be potential to observe a few events in the b{bar b} {tau}{sup +}{tau}{sup -} or b{bar b} b{bar b} channels with relatively small background, although this observation would be statistically limited. At the LHC, the background problem is more severe, but with cross sections and integrated luminosities orders of magnitude larger than at the Tevatron, the observation of a Higgs boson in this decay mode would be possible. The channel h {yields} aa {yields} b{bar b} b{bar b} would provide a large statistical significance, with a signal-to-background ratio on the order of 1:2. In these searches, the main challenge would be to retain the adequate tagging efficiency of b's and {tau}'s in the low p{sub T} region.
Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
Sponsoring Organization:
SC; Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
929268
Report Number(s):
ANL-HEP-PR-07-106
Journal Information:
JHEP, Journal Name: JHEP Journal Issue: Apr. 2008 Vol. 4
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH

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