Andrea Peterson | Searcharxiv

arXiv2014

New physics in resonant production of Higgs boson pairs

We advocate a search for an extended scalar sector at the LHC via $hh$ production, where $h$ is the 125 GeV Higgs boson. A resonance feature in the $hh$ invariant mass is a smoking gun of an $s$-channel heavy Higgs resonance, $H$. With one $h$ decaying to two photons and the other decaying to $b$-quarks, the resonant signal may be discoverable above the $hh$ continuum background for $M_H<$ 1 TeV. The product of the scalar and top Yukawa couplings can be measured to better than $10-20\%$ accuracy, and its sign can be inferred from the $hh$ lineshape via interference effects.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

LHC and dark matter signals of Z' bosons

We customize the simulation code FEWZ (Fully Exclusive W, Z Production) to study Z' production at the LHC for both \sqrt{s}=8 TeV and 14 TeV. Using the results of our simulation for several standard benchmark Z' models, we derive a semi-empirical expression for the differential cross section, that permits the determination of Z' couplings in a model-independent manner. We evaluate cross sections and other observables for large classes of models, including the common E_6, left-right and B-L models, as a function of model parameters. We also consider a hidden sector Z' that couples to standard model fermions via kinetic and mass mixing and serves as a mediator of isospin-violating interactions with dark matter. We combine the results of LHC Z' searches and dark matter direct detection experiments with global electroweak data to obtain mass-dependent constraints on the model parameters.

hep-ph↗