Constraints on the Higgs-gluon effective coupling through $h \to \gamma\gamma$ decays at the LHC

Abstract

We present a detailed study of the $pp\to h\to\gamma\gamma$ process in the HPOprodMFV\_UFO model framework, focusing on the Higgs-gluon effective coupling modifier, $\kappa_g$. We generate events for 26 parameter points corresponding to $|\kappa_g|$ values ranging from 0.6 to 1.4 using MadGraph5\_aMC@NLO simulations at 13 TeV with NNPDF3.1 parton distribution functions. These events are processed through Pythia8 for parton showering and hadronisation. This is followed by a fast detector simulation using Delphes with an ATLAS-like configuration and analysis with MadAnalysis5. We verify the expected quadratic scaling, $\sigma(pp \to h \to \gamma\gamma) \propto \kappa_g^2$, with high precision, confirming the consistency of our simulation framework. The Standard Model cross section after the application of selection cuts is found to be $\sigma_{\mathrm{SM}} = 0.04067 \pm 0.00008$ pb. By comparing our results with the ATLAS Run 2 likelihood profile from HEPData (HEPData:ins1851456), we derive constraints on $|\kappa_g|$: \begin{align*} |\kappa_g| &\in [0.80,\, 1.20] \quad \text{at 68\% CL}, |\kappa_g| &\in [0.70,\, 1.30] \quad \text{at 95\% CL},. \end{align*} These results are in excellent agreement with the official ATLAS and CMS combinations. Our analysis validates the HPOprodMFV\_UFO model implementation and demonstrates the effectiveness of simplified simulations in exploring Higgs couplings in the diphoton channel. }