A search for an exotic decay of the Higgs boson to a pair of light pseudoscalar bosons is performed for the first time in the final state with two b quarks and two $\tau$ leptons. The search is motivated in the context of models of physics beyond the standard model (SM), such as two Higgs doublet models extended with a complex scalar singlet (2HDM+S), which include the next-to-minimal supersymmetric SM (NMSSM). The results are based on a data set of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$, accumulated by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Masses of the pseudoscalar boson between 15 and 60 GeV are probed, and no excess of events above the SM expectation is observed. Upper limits between 3 and 12% are set on the branching fraction $\mathcal{B}$(h $\to$ aa $\to$ 2$\tau$2b) assuming the SM production of the Higgs boson. Upper limits are also set on the branching fraction of the Higgs boson to two light pseudoscalar bosons in different 2HDM+S scenarios. Assuming the SM production cross section for the Higgs boson, the upper limit on this quantity is as low as 20% for a mass of the pseudoscalar of 40 GeV in the NMSSM.
Expected and observed 95% CL upper limits on (sigma(pp->h)/sigma(pp->hSM)) * B(h -> aa -> bbtautau) as a function of m(a), where h(SM) is the Higgs boson of the standard model, h is the observed particle with mass of 125 GeV, and a denotes a light Higgs-like state, as obtained from the 13 TeV data.
A search for exotic Higgs boson decays to light pseudoscalars in the final state of two muons and two $\tau$ leptons is performed using proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. Masses of the pseudoscalar boson between 15.0 and 62.5 GeV are probed, and no significant excess of data is observed above the prediction of the standard model. Upper limits are set on the branching fraction of the Higgs boson to two light pseudoscalar bosons in different types of two-Higgs-doublet models extended with a complex scalar singlet.
Expected and observed 95% CL upper limits on (sigma(pp->h)/sigma(pp->hSM)) * B(h -> aa -> mumutautau) as a function of m(a), where h(SM) is the Higgs boson of the standard model, h is the observed particle with mass of 125 GeV, and a denotes a light Higgs-like state, as obtained from the 13 TeV data.
A search is presented for additional neutral Higgs bosons in the $\tau\tau$ final state in proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The search is performed in the context of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model (MSSM), using the data collected with the CMS detector in 2016 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. To enhance the sensitivity to neutral MSSM Higgs bosons, the search includes production of the Higgs boson in association with b quarks. No significant deviation above the expected background is observed. Model-independent limits at 95% confidence level (CL) are set on the product of the branching fraction for the decay into $\tau$ leptons and the cross section for the production via gluon fusion or in association with b quarks. These limits range from 18 pb at 90 GeV to 3.5 fb at 3.2 TeV for gluon fusion and from 15 pb (at 90 GeV) to 2.5 fb (at 3.2 TeV) for production in association with b quarks, assuming a narrow width resonance. In the m$_{\text{h}}^{\text{mod+}}$ scenario these limits translate into a 95% CL exclusion of $\tan\beta>$ 6 for neutral Higgs boson masses below 250 GeV, where $\tan\beta$ is the ratio of the vacuum expectation values of the neutral components of the two Higgs doublets. The 95% CL exclusion contour reaches 1.6 TeV for $\tan\beta=$ 60.
Expected and observed 95% CL upper limits for the production of a single narrow resonance, $\phi$, with a mass between 90 GeV and 3.2 TeV via gluon-gluon fusion. This limit database corresponds to the values shown in Figure 7a of the paper.
Expected and observed 95% CL upper limits for the production of a single narrow resonance, $\phi$, with a mass between 90 GeV and 3.2 TeV in association with b-quarks. This limit database corresponds to the values shown in Figure 7b of the paper.
Scan of the likelihood function for the search in the $\tau\tau$ final state for a single narrow resonance, $\phi$, produced via gluon fusion ($gg\phi$) or in association with b quarks ($bb\phi$). The scan is performed in 40000 points of the ($\sigma(gg\phi)\cdot B(\phi\rightarrow\tau\tau)$, $\sigma(bb\phi)\cdot B(\phi\rightarrow\tau\tau)$) plane. An asimov dataset constructed from the expectation of all backgrounds and the SM Higgs boson is tested against a background hypothesis including the SM Higgs boson. For further details and instructions, please have a look into the following README file http://cms-results.web.cern.ch/cms-results/public-results/publications/HIG-17-020/2D-likelihood-scans/README.txt. Selected examples of such a likelihood scan are given in Figure 8 of the paper.
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