A search is presented for the decay of the 125 GeV Higgs boson (H) to a pair of new light pseudoscalar bosons (a), followed by the prompt decay of each a boson to a bottom quark-antiquark pair, H $\to$ aa $\to$$\mathrm{b\bar{b}b\bar{b}}$. The analysis is performed using a data sample of proton-proton collisions collected with the CMS detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. To reduce the background from standard model processes, the search requires the Higgs boson to be produced in association with a leptonically decaying W or Z boson. The analysis probes the production of new light bosons in a 15 $\lt$$m_\mathrm{a}$$\lt$ 60 GeV mass range. Assuming the standard model predictions for the Higgs boson production cross sections for pp $\to$ WH and ZH, model independent upper limits at 95% confidence level are derived for the branching fraction $\mathcal{B}$(H $\to$ aa $\to$ $\mathrm{b\bar{b}b\bar{b}}$). The combined WH and ZH observed upper limit on the branching fraction ranges from 1.10 for $m_\mathrm{a} =$ 20 GeV to 0.36 for $m_\mathrm{a} =$ 60 GeV, complementing other measurements in the $\mu\mu\tau\tau$, $\tau\tau\tau\tau$ and bb$\ell\ell$ ($\ell=$ $\mu$,$\tau$) channels.

A study of the anomalous couplings of the Higgs boson to vector bosons, including $CP$-violation effects, has been conducted using its production and decay in the WW channel. This analysis is performed on proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC during 2016-2018 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The different-flavor dilepton (e$\mu$) final state is analyzed, with dedicated categories targeting gluon fusion, electroweak vector boson fusion, and associated production with a W or Z boson. Kinematic information from associated jets is combined using matrix element techniques to increase the sensitivity to anomalous effects at the production vertex. A simultaneous measurement of four Higgs boson couplings to electroweak vector bosons is performed in the framework of a standard model effective field theory. All measurements are consistent with the expectations for the standard model Higgs boson and constraints are set on the fractional contribution of the anomalous couplings to the Higgs boson production cross section.

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.

A search is presented for massive narrow resonances decaying either into two Higgs bosons, or into a Higgs boson and a W or Z boson. The decay channels considered are HH$\to \mathrm{b\overline{b}}\tau^{+}\tau^{-}$ and VH$ \to \mathrm{q\overline{q}}\tau^{+}\tau^{-}$, where H denotes the Higgs boson, and V denotes the W or Z boson. This analysis is based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV by the CMS Collaboration, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. For the TeV-scale mass resonances considered, substructure techniques provide ways to differentiate among the hadronization products from vector boson decays to quarks, Higgs boson decays to bottom quarks, and quark- or gluon-induced jets. Reconstruction techniques are used that have been specifically optimized to select events in which the tau lepton pair is highly boosted. The observed data are consistent with standard model expectations and upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the product of cross section and branching fraction for resonance masses between 0.9 and 4.0 TeV. Exclusion limits are set in the context of bulk radion and graviton models: spin-0 radion resonances are excluded below a mass of 2.7 TeV at 95% confidence level. In the spin-1 heavy vector triplet framework, mass-degenerate W' and Z' resonances with dominant couplings to the standard model gauge bosons are excluded below a mass of 2.8 TeV at 95% confidence level. There are the first limits for these decay channels at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV.

A search for Higgs bosons that decay into a bottom quark-antiquark pair and are accompanied by at least one additional bottom quark is performed with the CMS detector. The data analyzed were recorded in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.7 fb$^{-1}$. The final state considered in this analysis is particularly sensitive to signatures of a Higgs sector beyond the standard model, as predicted in the generic class of two Higgs doublet models (2HDMs). No signal above the standard model background expectation is observed. Stringent upper limits on the cross section times branching fraction are set for Higgs bosons with masses up to 1300 GeV. The results are interpreted within several MSSM and 2HDM scenarios.

A search is presented for the production of a Higgs boson in association with a single top quark, based on data collected in 2016 by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The production cross section for this process is highly sensitive to the absolute values of the top quark Yukawa coupling, $y_t$, the Higgs boson coupling to vector bosons, $g_\mathrm{HVV}$, and, uniquely, to their relative sign. Analyses using multilepton signatures, targeting H $\to$ WW, H $\to$ $\tau\tau$, and H $\to$ ZZ decay modes, and signatures with a single lepton and a $\mathrm{b\overline{b}}$ pair, targeting the H $\to$ $\mathrm{b\overline{b}}$ decay, are combined with a reinterpretation of a measurement in the H $\to$ $\gamma\gamma$ channel to constrain $y_\mathrm{t}$. For a standard model-like value of $g_\mathrm{HVV}$, the data favor positive values of $y_\mathrm{t}$ and exclude values of $y_\mathrm{t}$ below about $-$0.9 $y_\mathrm{t}^\mathrm{SM}$.

Differential cross sections are measured for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with vector bosons (W, Z) and decaying to a pair of b quarks. Measurements are performed within the framework of the simplified template cross sections. The analysis relies on the leptonic decays of the W and Z bosons, resulting in final states with 0, 1, or 2 electrons or muons. The Higgs boson candidates are either reconstructed from pairs of resolved b-tagged jets, or from single large distance parameter jets containing the particles arising from two b quarks. Proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment in 2016-2018 and corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$, are analyzed. The inclusive signal strength, defined as the product of the observed production cross section and branching fraction relative to the standard model expectation, combining all analysis categories, is found to be $\mu$ = 1.15$^{+0.22}_{-0.20}$. This corresponds to an observed (expected) significance of 6.3 (5.6) standard deviations.

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into a pair of electrons or muons and a photon is described. Higgs boson decays to a Z boson and a photon (H $\to$ Z$\gamma\to\ell\ell\gamma$, $\ell =$ e or $\mu$), or to two photons, one of which has an internal conversion into a muon pair (H $\to\gamma^{*}\gamma\to\mu\mu\gamma$) were considered. The analysis is performed using a data set recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. No significant excess above the background prediction has been found. Limits are set on the cross section for a standard model Higgs boson decaying to opposite-sign electron or muon pairs and a photon. The observed limits on cross section times the corresponding branching fractions vary between 1.4 and 4.0 (6.1 and 11.4) times the standard model cross section for H $\to\gamma^{*}\gamma\to\mu\mu\gamma$ (H $\to$ Z$\gamma\to\ell\ell\gamma$) in the 120-130 GeV mass range of the $\ell\ell\gamma$ system. The H $\to\gamma^*\gamma\to\mu\mu\gamma$ and H $\to$ Z$\gamma\to\ell\ell\gamma$ analyses are combined for $m_\mathrm{H} =$ 125 GeV, obtaining an observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limit of 3.9 (2.0) times the standard model cross section.

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.

A search is presented for decays of Z and Higgs bosons to a J$/\psi$ meson and a photon, with the subsequent decay of the J$/\psi$ to $\mu^+\mu^-$. The analysis uses data from proton-proton collisions with an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The observed limit on the Z $\to$ J$/\psi \gamma$ decay branching fraction, assuming that the J$/\psi$ meson is produced unpolarized, is 1.4 $\times$ 10$^{-6}$ at 95% confidence level, which corresponds to a rate higher than expected in the standard model by a factor of 15. For extreme-polarization scenarios, the observed limit changes from -13.6 to +8.6% with respect to the unpolarized scenario. The observed upper limit on the branching fraction for H $\to$ J$/\psi \gamma$ where the J$/\psi$ meson is assumed to be transversely polarized is 7.6 $\times$ 10$^{-4}$, a factor of 260 larger than the standard model prediction. The results for the Higgs boson are combined with previous data from proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 8 TeV to produce an observed upper limit on the branching fraction for H $\to$ J$/\psi \gamma$ that is a factor of 220 larger than the standard model value.