Electroweak production of light scalar-pseudoscalar pairs from extended Higgs sectors

Abstract

In models with extended Higgs sectors, it is possible that the Higgs boson discovered at the LHC is not the lightest one. We show that in a realistic model (the Type I 2-Higgs Doublet Model), when the sum of the masses of a light scalar and a pseudoscalar ($h$ and $A$) is smaller than the $Z$ boson mass, the Electroweak (EW) production of an $hA$ pair can dominate over QCD production by orders of magnitude, a fact not previously highlighted. This is because in the $gg$-initiated process, $hA$ production via a resonant $Z$ in the $s$-channel is prohibited according to the Landau-Yang theorem, which is not the case for the $q\bar{q}$-initiated process. We explore the parameter space of the model to highlight regions giving such $hA$ solutions while being consistent with all constraints from collider searches, $b$-physics and EW precision data. We also single out a few benchmark points to discuss their salient features, including the $hA$ search channels that can be exploited at Run II of the LHC.

5 pages, 3 figures. v2: References added, typos corrected, discussion slightly expanded. Main conclusions unchanged. Published in Physics Letters B

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Cited by in corpus (12)

• Building and testing models with extended Higgs sectors
• Identifying a light charged Higgs boson at the LHC Run II
• Chasing the two-Higgs doublet model in the di-Higgs production
• Light (and darkness) from a light hidden Higgs
• Multi-photon production in the Type-I 2HDM
• Seeking the CP-odd Higgs via $h\to {\eta }_{c,b}{\ell }^{+}{\ell }^{-}$
• Electroweak production of multiple (pseudo)scalars in the 2HDM
• Discovery prospects of a light Higgs boson at the LHC in type-I 2HDM
• Search for sub-GeV Scalars in $e^{+}{e}^{-}$ collisions
• Scalar-pseudoscalar pair production at the Large Hadron Collider at NLO+NLL accuracy in QCD
• Light exotic Higgs bosons at the LHC
• Signatures of the Type-I 2HDM at the LHC