Have We Observed the Higgs (Imposter)?

Abstract

We interpret the new particle at the Large Hadron Collider as a CP-even scalar and investigate its electroweak quantum number. Assuming an unbroken custodial invariance as suggested by precision electroweak measurements, only four possibilities are allowed if the scalar decays to pairs of gauge bosons, as exemplified by a dilaton/radion, a non-dilatonic electroweak singlet scalar, an electroweak doublet scalar, and electroweak triplet scalars. We show that current LHC data already strongly disfavor both the dilatonic and non-dilatonic singlet imposters. On the other hand, a generic Higgs doublet give excellent fits to the measured event rates of the newly observed scalar resonance, while the Standard Model Higgs boson gives a slightly worse overall fit due to the lack signal in the tau tau channel. The triplet imposter exhibits some tension with the data. The global fit indicates the enhancement in the diphoton channel could be attributed to an enhanced partial decay width, while the production rates are consistent with the Standard Model expectations. We emphasize that more precise measurements of the ratio of event rates in the WW over ZZ channels, as well as the event rates in b bbar and tau tau channels, are needed to further distinguish the Higgs doublet from the triplet imposter.

20 pages, 4 figures; v2: updated with most recent public data as of August 7. A generic Higgs doublet now gives the best fit to data, while the triplet imposter exhibits some tension; v3: updated a factor of 1/2 and a minus sign in the SM value of c_Zgamma

References in corpus (10)

• Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC
• Observation of a new boson at a mass of 125 GeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC
• LHC Phenomenology of an Extended Standard Model with a Real Scalar Singlet
• Light scalar at LHC: the Higgs or the dilaton?
• Implications of a Modified Higgs to Diphoton Decay Width
• Combined search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector
• Measuring Higgs Couplings from LHC Data
• Radion Phenomenology in Realistic Warped Space Models
• Standard Model couplings and collider signatures of a light scalar
• Higgs couplings in a model with triplets

Cited by in corpus (107)

• HiggsSignals: Confronting arbitrary Higgs sectors with measurements at the Tevatron and the LHC
• Constraints on the spin-parity and anomalous HVV couplings of the Higgs boson in proton collisions at 7 and 8 TeV
• Higgs After the Discovery: A Status Report
• Global fit to Higgs signal strengths and couplings and implications for extended Higgs sectors
• A framework for Higgs characterisation
• The universal Higgs fit
• Robust Determination of the Higgs Couplings: Power to the Data
• Complete Higgs Sector Constraints on Dimension-6 Operators
• An Updated Analysis of Inert Higgs Doublet Model in light of the Recent Results from LUX, PLANCK, AMS-02 and LHC
• Disentangling a dynamical Higgs
• A Higgslike Dilaton
• Natural NMSSM Higgs Bosons
• Global Analysis of the Higgs Candidate with Mass ~ 125 GeV
• Higgs Precision (Higgcision) Era begins
• The decoupling limit in the Georgi-Machacek model
• MSSM Interpretations of the LHC Discovery: Light or Heavy Higgs?
• Can the nearly conformal sextet gauge model hide the Higgs impostor?
• Determining Triple Gauge Boson Couplings from Higgs Data
• Search for Higgs boson decays to a photon and a Z boson in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 and 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector
• Vacuum Stability and Higgs Diphoton Decays in the MSSM
• NLO Inspired Effective Lagrangians for Higgs Physics
• A Minimal Flavor Violating 2HDM at the LHC
• Electroweak Symmetry Breaking and the Higgs Boson: Confronting Theories at Colliders
• Search for a standard-model-like Higgs boson with a mass in the range 145 to 1000 GeV at the LHC
• Implications of Higgs boson search data on the two-Higgs doublet models with a softly broken $Z_2$ symmetry
• Constraining extra-fermion(s) from the Higgs boson data
• Confronting Higgcision with Electric Dipole Moments
• Indirect constraints on the Georgi-Machacek model and implications for Higgs couplings
• Higher dimensional operators and LHC Higgs data : the role of modified kinematics
• Directly Measuring the Tensor Structure of the Scalar Coupling to Gauge Bosons
• Higgs characterisation via vector-boson fusion and associated production: NLO and parton-shower effects
• Probing the spin-parity of the Higgs boson via jet kinematics in vector boson fusion
• A search for the $Z\gamma$ decay mode of the Higgs boson in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
• LHC Higgs Signatures from Extended Electroweak Gauge Symmetry
• Interpretation of precision tests in the Higgs sector in terms of physics beyond the Standard Model
• Modified Higgs Sectors and NLO Associated Production
• Naturally light dilatons from nearly marginal deformations
• Scrutinizing h(125) in Two Higgs Doublet Models at the LHC, ILC, and Muon Collider
• Searches for the $Z\gamma$ decay mode of the Higgs boson and for new high-mass resonances in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
• All the generalized Georgi-Machacek models
• Next-to-Leading Order QCD Corrections to the Decay Width $H\to Z\gamma$
• Implications of LHC data on 125GeV Higgs-like boson for the Standard Model and its various extensions
• Implications of the diphoton excess on Left-Right models and gauge unification
• Alternatives to an Elementary Higgs
• An effective gauge-Higgs operators analysis of new physics associated with the Higgs
• Multiscale confining dynamics from holographic RG flows
• Probing the Higgs Couplings to Photons in $h\to 4\ell$ at the LHC
• Higgs boson signal at complete tree level in the SM extension by dimension-six operators
• Scrutinizing the Higgs Signal and Background in the $2e2\mu$ Golden Channel
• Low Scale Supersymmetry Breaking and its LHC Signatures
• The Effective Standard Model after LHC Run I
• Extracting Effective Higgs Couplings in the Golden Channel
• Evidence for the Higgs boson decay to a $Z$ boson and a photon at the LHC
• Implications of the Higgs discovery for the MSSM
• Anatomy of the Higgs fits: a first guide to statistical treatments of the theoretical uncertainties
• The 2HDM-X and Large Hadron Collider Data
• Is the New Resonance Spin 0 or 2? Taking a Step Forward in the Higgs Boson Discovery
• An updated analysis of radion-higgs mixing in the light of LHC data
• 2HDM Portal Dark Matter: LHC data and the Fermi-LAT 135 GeV Line
• Spin-2 Resonances in Vector-Boson-Fusion Processes at NLO QCD
• A note on Higgs decays into $Z$ boson and $J/\Psi ({\rm Y})$
• Real singlet scalar dark matter extension of the Georgi-Machacek model
• Scalar decays to $\gamma \gamma$, $Z\gamma$, and $W\gamma$ in the Georgi-Machacek model
• Prima Facie Evidence against Spin-Two Higgs Impostors
• Anomalous Higgs Couplings as a Window to New Physics
• Light scalar from deformations of the Klebanov-Strassler background
• Inspecting the Higgs for New Weakly Interacting Particles
• Higgs-radion unification: radius stabilization by an SU(2) bulk doublet and the 126 GeV scalar
• Distinguishing `Higgs' Spin Hypotheses using gamma gamma and WW* Decays
• Decays of Higgs Bosons in the Standard Model and Beyond
• Explaining The CDF-II W-Boson Mass Anomaly in the Georgi-Machacek Extension Models
• Probing $HZ\gamma$ and $H\gamma \gamma$ Anomalous Couplings in the Process of $e^{+}{e}^{-}\to H\gamma$
• Precision Higgs coupling measurements at the LHC through ratios of production cross sections
• Exploring anomalous $HZ\gamma$ couplings in $\gamma$-proton collisions at the LHC
• Constraining anomalous Higgs boson couplings to virtual photons
• Higgs diphoton rate enhancement from supersymmetric physics beyond the MSSM
• Interplay between new physics in one-loop Higgs couplings and the top-quark Yukawa coupling
• Constraints on CP-violating gauge-Higgs operators
• Effective Field Theory in the top sector: do multijets help?
• Higgs boson couplings: measurements and theoretical interpretation
• Dark Matter from the Supersymmetric Custodial Triplet Model
• Higgs decay into photons through a spin-2 loop
• Determination of SU(4)${}_{TC}$ Technicolor Gauge Group from Embedding in Extended Technicolor
• Following the trail of new physics via VBF Higgs signal at the Large Hadron Collider
• Glueball Spectrum in a Gauge Theory with Two Dynamical Scales
• Interpretation of 95 GeV Excess within the Georgi-Machacek Model in Light of Positive Definiteness Constraints
• Boosted Higgses from chromomagnetic $b$'s: $b\bar{b}h$ at high luminosity
• Lattice Gauge Theories at the Energy Frontier
• XEFT, the challenging path up the hill: dim = 6 and dim = 8
• Dark Matter in Leptophilic Higgs Models After the LHC Run-I
• Strange Couplings to the Higgs
• Higher Order Corrections to the Trilinear Higgs Self-Couplings in the Real NMSSM
• Does unitarity imply finiteness of electroweak oblique corrections at one-loop? - constraining extra neutral Higgs bosons -
• Higgs data constraints on the minimal supersymmetric standard model
• Yukawa Alignment Revisited in the Higgs Basis
• Low energy behaviour of standard model extensions
• New light on WW scattering at the LHC with W jet tagging
• On the presentation of the LHC Higgs Results
• Unraveling The Physics Behind Modified Higgs Couplings -- LHC vs. a Higgs Factory
• Bounds on supersymmetric effective operators from heavy diphoton searches
• Alignment of Yukawa couplings in two Higgs doublet models
• Search for the Higgs boson decay to a $Z$ boson and a photon in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and $13.6$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
• Dynamical mass scale and approximate scaling symmetry in the Higgs sector
• Higgs, supersymmetry and dark matter after Run I of the LHC
• Triplet fermion WIMP dark matter in the general supersymmetric Georgi-Machacek model
• SMEFT deviations
• Use and reuse of SMEFT