SMuK 2023 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 5: Searches (Higgs, ALPS and more)

T 5.2: Talk

Monday, March 20, 2023, 16:45–17:00, HSZ/0101

Search for charged Higgs bosons in H⁺→ W⁺h decays with the ATLAS detector — Dominik Duda, •Simon Grewe, Sandra Kortner, and Hubert Kroha — Max Planck Institut für Physik

Many theories beyond the Standard Model predict the existence of charged Higgs bosons. The main production mode of these new particles depends on their mass. For large masses (m(H⁺)>m(t)+m(b)), the dominant mode of production is in association with a top quark and a bottom quark (tbH⁺). In the alignment limit of the Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM), heavy charged Higgs bosons with m(H⁺)>m(t)+m(b) decay almost exclusively via H⁺ → tb. In other models such as the Georgi-Machacek model, however, significant branching ratios for H⁺→ W⁺h are possible. This decay has so far not been studied by ATLAS or CMS.

A search for H⁺→ W⁺h decays in association with a top and bottom quark is presented, based on the full Run-2 dataset of the ATLAS experiment. The analysis targets final states with resolved h→ b b decays containing five or more jets, one charged lepton and missing transverse momentum. The reconstruction of the charged Higgs boson decay, as well as the definition of the signal and control regions is based on boosted decision trees (BDTs). Limits on σ( p p → t b H⁺) × BR(H⁺→ W⁺h ) are obtained by a maximum likelihood fit of the reconstructed H⁺ mass spectrum.

This talk presents an overview of the analysis with special emphasis on the signal reconstruction and the development of the signal and control regions.