Search for a very light NMSSM Higgs boson produced in decays of the 125 GeV scalar boson and decaying into τ leptons in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV

CMS Collaboration

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

49 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A search for a very light Higgs boson decaying into a pair of τ leptons is presented within the framework of the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model. This search is based on a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb-1 of proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The signal is defined by the production of either of the two lightest scalars, h1 or h2, via gluon-gluon fusion and subsequent decay into a pair of the lightest Higgs bosons, a1 or h1. The h1 or h2 boson is identified with the observed state at a mass of 125 GeV. The analysis searches for decays of the a1 (h1) states into pairs of τ leptons and covers a mass range for the a1 (h1) boson of 4 to 8 GeV. The search reveals no signicant excess in data above standard model background expectations, and an upper limit is set on the signal production cross section times branching fraction as a function of the a1 (h1) boson mass. The 95% condence level limit ranges from 4.5 pb at ma1 (mh1) = 8 GeV to 10.3 pb at ma1 (mh1) = 5 GeV.
Original languageEnglish
Article number79
Number of pages46
JournalJournal of High Energy Physics
Volume2016
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Supersymmetry
  • Hadron-Hadron scattering
  • Higgs physics

Cite this