Measuring properties of a dark photon from semi-invisible decay of the Higgs boson

Abstract

Considerable efforts have been dedicated to discovering a dark photon via the decay of the Higgs boson to a photon and an invisible particle. A subject that is still mostly unexplored is which properties of the dark photon could be measured at the LHC if an excess were to be found in this channel and whether we could determine if this signal is indeed that of a dark photon. In this paper, we seek to address some of these questions for two Higgs production channels: gluon-fusion and $Z$-associated. First, prospects are presented for the upper limit on the mass of a massless dark photon and for the uncertainty on the mass of a massive dark photon. Second, we study the feasibility of distinguishing this signal from that of the Higgs decaying to a gravitino and a neutralino that decays to a photon and another gravitino. Finally, the complementary possibility of observing the decay of the Higgs to a dark photon and a $Z$ boson is studied.

21 pages, 6 figures, minor clarifications, matches published version

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