Search for a resonance decaying into a scalar particle and a Higgs boson in the final state with two bottom quarks and two photons in proton–proton collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Journal article

A search for the resonant production of a heavy scalar X decaying into a Higgs boson and a new lighter scalar S, through the process X → S(→bb¯)H(→γγ), where the two photons are consistent with the Higgs boson decay, is performed. The search is conducted using an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is performed over the mass range 170 ≤ mX ≤ 1000 GeV and 15 ≤ mS ≤ 500 GeV. Parameterised neural networks are used to enhance the signal purity and to achieve continuous sensitivity in a domain of the (mX, mS) plane. No significant excess above the expected background is found and 95% CL upper limits are set on the cross section times branching ratio, ranging from 39 fb to 0.09 fb. The largest deviation from the background-only expectation occurs for (mX, mS) = (575, 200) GeV with a local (global) significance of 3.5 (2.0) standard deviations.

Authors: Aad, G; Aakvaag, E; Abbott, B; Abeling, K; Abicht, NJ

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Springer
• Journal: Journal of High Energy Physics
• Volume: 2024
• Issue: 11
• Article number: 47
• Publication date: 2024-11-07
• Acceptance date: 2024-09-30
• DOI: 10.1007/jhep11(2024)047
• EISSN: 1029-8479
• ISSN: 1126-6708
• Language: English
• Keywords: Higgs Physics; Hadron-Hadron Scattering; Hadron-Hadron scattering; Beyond Standard Model