First interpretation of the 750 GeV di-photon resonance at the LHC

Abstract

We scrutinise the evidences recently reported by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations for compatible 750 GeV resonances which appear in the di-photon channels of the two experiments in both the 8 TeV and 13 TeV datasets. Similar resonances in di-boson, di-lepton, di-jet and $t\bar t$ final states are instead not detected. After discussing the properties and the compatibility of the reported signals, we study the implications on the physics beyond the Standard Model with particular emphasis on possible scalar extensions of the theory such as singlet extensions and the two Higgs doublet models. We also analyse the significance of the new experimental indications within the frameworks of the minimal supersymmetric standard model and of technicolour models. Our results show that a simple effective singlet extension of the SM achieves phenomenological viability with a minimal number of free parameters. The minimal supersymmetric model and the two Higgs doublet model, on the other hand, cannot explain the 750 GeV di-photon excess. Compatibility with the observed signal requires the extension of the particle content of these models, for instance by heavy vector quarks in the case of the two Higgs doublet model.