Search for heavy neutral Higgs bosons A and H in the $\mathrm{t}\bar{\mathrm{t}}$Z channel in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV

Abstract

A direct search for new heavy neutral Higgs bosons A and H in the $\mathrm{t}\bar{\mathrm{t}}$Z channel is presented, targeting the process pp $\to$ A $\to$ ZH with H $\to$ $\mathrm{t}\bar{\mathrm{t}}$. For the first time, the channel with decays of the Z boson to muons or electrons in association with all-hadronic decays of the $\mathrm{t}\bar{\mathrm{t}}$ system is targeted. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data collected at the CERN LHC with the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, which correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb${}^{-1}$. No signal is observed. Upper limits on the product of the cross section and branching fractions are derived for narrow resonances A and H with masses up to 2100 and 2000 GeV, respectively, assuming A boson production through gluon fusion. The results are also interpreted within two-Higgs-doublet models, where A and H are CP-odd and CP-even states, respectively, complementing and substantially extending the reach of previous searches.

Replaced with the published version. Added the journal reference and the DOI. All the figures and tables can be found at http://cms-results.web.cern.ch/cms-results/public-results/publications/B2G-23-006 (CMS Public Pages)