A search for a charged Higgs boson, $H^{\pm}$, produced in top-quark decays, $t \rightarrow H^{\pm}b$, is presented. The search targets $H^{\pm}$ decays into a bottom and a charm quark, $H^{\pm} \rightarrow cb$. The analysis focuses on a selection enriched in top-quark pair production, where one top quark decays into a leptonically decaying $W$ boson and a bottom quark, and the other top quark decays into a charged Higgs boson and a bottom quark. This topology leads to a lepton-plus-jets final state, characterised by an isolated electron or muon and at least four jets. The search exploits the high multiplicity of jets containing $b$-hadrons, and deploys a neural network classifier that uses the kinematic differences between the signal and the background. The search uses a dataset of proton-proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV between 2015 and 2018 with the ATLAS detector at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, amounting to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. Observed (expected) 95% confidence-level upper limits between 0.15% (0.09%) and 0.42% (0.25%) are derived for the product of branching fractions $\mathscr{B}(t\rightarrow H^{\pm}b) \times \mathscr{B}(H^{\pm}\rightarrow cb)$ for charged Higgs boson masses between 60 and 160 GeV, assuming the SM production of the top-quark pairs.
The observed 95% CL upper limits on $\mathscr{B}=\mathscr{B}(t\rightarrow H^{\pm}b) \times \mathscr{B}(H^{\pm}\rightarrow cb)$ as a function of $m_{H^{\pm}}$ and the expectation (dashed) under the background-only hypothesis. The inner green and outer yellow shaded bands show the $\pm 1\sigma$ and $\pm 2\sigma$ uncertainties of the expected limits. The exclusion limits are presented for $m_{H^{\pm}}$ between 60 and 160 GeV with 10 GeV $m_{H^{\pm}}$ spacing and linear interpolation between adjacent mass points. Superimposed on the upper limits, the predictions from the 3HDM are shown, corresponding to three benchmark values for the parameters $X$, $Y$, and $Z$
Pre-fit event yields in each of the nine analysis regions. The $H^{\pm}$ signal yields for $m_{H^{\pm}}=130$ GeV and $m_{H^{\pm}}=70$ GeV are normalised to $\mathscr{B}_{\mathrm{ref}}=1\%$. The quoted uncertainties are the sum in quadrature of statistical and systematic uncertainties of the yields, computed taking into account correlations among processes resulting from the data-based $t\bar{t}$ correction procedure.
Post-fit yields in each of the nine analysis regions considered. The total prediction is shown after the fit to data under the signal-plus-background hypothesis assuming $H^{\pm}$ signal with $m_{H^{\pm}}=130$ GeV. The predicted yileds for the $H^{\pm}$ signal with $m_{H^{\pm}}=70$ GeV are also shown for reference. The best fit-values of $\mathscr{B}$ for $H^{\pm}$ signal with $m_{H^{\pm}}=130$ GeV and $m_{H^{\pm}}=70$ GeV are 0.16% and 0.07% respectively. The quoted uncertainties are the sum in quadrature of statistical and systematic uncertainties of the yields, computed taking into account correlations among nuisance parameters and among processes.
A search for charged Higgs bosons decaying into a top quark and a bottom quark is presented. The data analysed correspond to 139 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=13TeV, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The production of a heavy charged Higgs boson in association with a top quark and a bottom quark, $pp\rightarrow tbH^{+}\rightarrow tbtb$, is explored in the $H^+$ mass range from 200 to 2000 GeV using final states with jets and one electron or muon. Events are categorised according to the multiplicity of jets and $b$-tagged jets, and multivariate analysis techniques are used to discriminate between signal and background events. No significant excess above the background-only hypothesis is observed and exclusion limits are derived for the production cross-section times branching ratio of a charged Higgs boson as a function of its mass; they range from 3.6 pb at 200 GeV to 0.036 pb at 2000 GeV at 95% confidence level. The results are interpreted in the hMSSM and $M_h^{125}$ scenarios.
Observed and expected upper limits for the production of $H^+\rightarrow tb$ in association with a top quark and a bottom quark. The bands surrounding the expected limit show the 68% and 95% confidence intervals. The red lines show the observed and expected 95% CL exclusion limits obtained with the 36 fb$^{-1}$ data sample. Theory predictions are shown for two representative values of $\tan\beta$ in the hMSSM benchmark scenario. Uncertainties in the predicted $H^+$ cross-sections or branching ratios are not considered.
Observed and expected limits on $\tan\beta$ as a function of $m_{H^+}$ in the hMSSM scenario. Limits are shown for $\tan\beta$ values in the range of 0.5-60 due to the availability of the model prediction. The bands surrounding the expected limits show the 68% and 95% confidence intervals. Uncertainties in the predicted $H^+$ cross-sections or branching ratios are not considered.
Observed and expected limits on $\tan\beta$ as a function of $m_{H^+}$ in the $M_h^{125}$ scenario. Limits are shown for $\tan\beta$ values in the range of 0.5-60 due to the availability of the model prediction. The bands surrounding the expected limits show the 68% and 95% confidence intervals. Uncertainties in the predicted $H^+$ cross-sections or branching ratios are not considered.
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