Search for a heavy Higgs boson decaying into a $Z$ boson and another heavy Higgs boson in the $\ell\ell bb$ and $\ell\ell WW$ final states in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration Aad, Georges ; Abbott, Brad ; Abbott, Dale Charles ; et al.
Eur.Phys.J.C 81 (2021) 396, 2021.
Inspire Record 1829873 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.95826

A search for a heavy neutral Higgs boson, $A$, decaying into a $Z$ boson and another heavy Higgs boson, $H$, is performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ from proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The search considers the $Z$ boson decaying into electrons or muons and the $H$ boson into a pair of $b$-quarks or $W$ bosons. The mass range considered is 230-800 GeV for the $A$ boson and 130-700 GeV for the $H$ boson. The data are in good agreement with the background predicted by the Standard Model, and therefore 95% confidence-level upper limits for $\sigma \times B(A\rightarrow ZH) \times B(H\rightarrow bb$ or $H\rightarrow WW)$ are set. The upper limits are in the range 0.0062-0.380 pb for the $H\rightarrow bb$ channel and in the range 0.023-8.9 pb for the $H\rightarrow WW$ channel. An interpretation of the results in the context of two-Higgs-Doublet models is also given.

197 data tables

The mass distribution of the bb system before any mbb window cuts for the 2 tag category in b-associated production. The signal distribution for (mA, mH) = (600, 300) GeV is also shown, and is normalised such that the production cross-section times the branching ratios B(A->ZH)xB(H->bb) corresponds to 1 pb. Background components are displayed separately.

The mass distribution of the bb system before any mbb window cuts for the 3 tag category in b-associated production. The signal distribution for (mA, mH) = (600, 300) GeV is also shown, and is normalised such that the production cross-section times the branching ratios B(A->ZH)xB(H->bb) corresponds to 1 pb. Background components are displayed separately.

The mllbb mass distribution for the mbb window defined for (mA, mH)=(600, 300) GeV in the 2 tag category with gluon-gluon fusion production is shown. The number of entries shown in each bin is the number of events in that bin divided by the width of the bin. The signal distribution for (mA, mH) = (600, 300) GeV is also shown, and is normalised such that the production cross-section times the branching ratios B(A->ZH)xB(H->bb) corresponds to 1 pb. Background components are displayed separately.

More…

Search for a heavy Higgs boson decaying into a $Z$ boson and another heavy Higgs boson in the $\ell\ell bb$ final state in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration Aaboud, Morad ; Aad, Georges ; Abbott, Brad ; et al.
Phys.Lett.B 783 (2018) 392-414, 2018.
Inspire Record 1665828 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.82527

A search for a heavy neutral Higgs boson, $A$, decaying into a $Z$ boson and another heavy Higgs boson, $H$, is performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ from proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV recorded in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search considers the $Z$ boson decaying to electrons or muons and the $H$ boson into a pair of $b$-quarks. No evidence for the production of an $A$ boson is found. Considering each production process separately, the 95% confidence-level upper limits on the $pp\rightarrow A\rightarrow ZH$ production cross-section times the branching ratio $H\rightarrow bb$ are in the range of 14-830 fb for the gluon-gluon fusion process and 26-570 fb for the $b$-associated process for the mass ranges 130-700 GeV of the $H$ boson and process for the mass ranges 130-700 GeV of the $H$ boson and 230-800 GeV of the $A$ boson. The results are interpreted in the context of the two-Higgs-doublet model.

134 data tables

The signal efficiency for the production modes (gluon-gluon fusion and b-associated production) and the signal regions used in the analysis. The efficiency denominator has the total number of generated MC events. The numerator includes the events passing the full signal region selection, including the mbb window cuts. The table shows for each signal mass pair (mA, mH) 3 efficiencies corresponding to the two production modes in the two categories, 2tag and 3tag. These corresponds to "nb = 2 category" and "nb >= 3 category", respectively, of the preprint. No numbers for gluon-gluon fusion in the 3tag category are provided since those are not used in the analysis. The efficiencies are given in fractions.

The cross section times BR(A->ZH) times BR(H->bb) limits for a narrow width A boson produced via gluon-gluon fusion. For each signal point, characterised by the mass pair (mA, mH), two limits are provided, the observed and the expected. The result refers to the nb=2 category only.

The cross section times BR(A->ZH) times BR(H->bb) limits for a narrow width A boson produced in association with b-quarks. For each signal point, characterised by the mass pair (mA, mH), two limits are provided, the observed and the expected. The result refers to the combination of the nb=2 and nb>=3 categories.

More…