Search for a light CP-odd Higgs boson decaying into a pair of τ -leptons in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Journal article

This paper reports a search for a light CP-odd scalar resonance with a mass of 20 GeV to 90 GeV in 13 TeV proton-proton collision data with an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis assumes the resonance is produced via gluon-gluon fusion and decays into a τ+τ− pair which subsequently decays into a fully leptonic μ+νμν¯τe−ν¯eντ or e+νeν¯τμ−ν¯μντ final state. No significant excess of events above the predicted Standard Model background is observed. The results are interpreted within a flavour-aligned two-Higgs-doublet model, and a model-independent cross-section interpretation is also given. Upper limits at 95% confidence level between 3.0 pb and 68 pb are set on the cross-section for producing a CP-odd Higgs boson that decays into a τ+τ− pair.

Authors: Aad, G; Aakvaag, E; Abbott, B; Abdelhameed, S; Abeling, K

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Springer
• Journal: Journal of High Energy Physics
• Volume: 2024
• Issue: 12
• Article number: 126
• Publication date: 2024-12-17
• Acceptance date: 2024-11-28
• DOI: 10.1007/jhep12(2024)126
• EISSN: 1029-8479
• ISSN: 1126-6708
• Language: English
• Keywords: Higgs Physics; Hadron-Hadron Scattering