Detecting a Higgs Pseudoscalar with a $Z$ Boson at the LHC

Abstract

We have adopted two Higgs doublet models to study the production of a Higgs pseudoscalar ($A^0$) in association with a $Z$ gauge boson from gluon fusion ($gg\to Z{A}^0$) at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The prospects for the discovery of $Z{A}^0\to \ell \bar{\ell }b\bar{b}$ are investigated with physics backgrounds and realistic cuts. Promising results are found for $m_A \alt 260$ GeV in two Higgs doublet models when the heavier Higgs scalar ($H^0$) can decay into a $Z$ boson and a Higgs pseudoscalar ($A^0$). Although the cross section of $gg\to Z{A}^0$ is usually small in the minimal supersymmetric standard model, it can be significantly enhanced in general two Higgs doublet models. This discovery channel might provide an opportunity to search for a Higgs scalar and a Higgs pseudoscalar simultaneously at the LHC and could lead to new physics beyond the Standard Model and the minimal supersymmetric model.

Two tables added for the ratio of signal/background

References in corpus (2)

• New Generation of Parton Distributions with Uncertainties from Global QCD Analysis
• Searching for the Higgs Bosons of Minimal Supersymmetry with Muon Pairs and Bottom Quarks

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Theory and phenomenology of two-Higgs-doublet models
• Higgs Strahlung at the Large Hadron Collider in the 2-Higgs-Doublet Model
• vh@nnlo-v2: New physics in Higgs Strahlung
• Associated production of Z and neutral Higgs bosons at the CERN Large Hadron Collider
• The Higgs sector of supersymmetric theories and the implications for high-energy colliders
• Detecting a Higgs Pseudoscalar with a Z Boson Produced in Bottom Quark Fusion