The MSSM at present and future colliders

A brief overview over the phenomenology of the MSSM at present and future colliders is given. The complementarity of indirect tests of the model via precision observables and of the information from the direct production of SUSY particles is emphasized. If the lightest Higgs boson of the MSSM will be detected, its mass will also play an important role as a precision observable.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the International Europhysics Conference on High Energy Physics, Tampere, July 199

Interference effects in MSSM Higgs searches at the LHC

Complex parameters in the MSSM lead to mixing and interference between the two heavier neutral CP-even and CP-odd Higgs states. These effects can become very large in the case of almost degenerate states. In a CP-violating benchmark scenario, we investigate phenomenological implications of such interferences in view of the LHC searches for heavy Higgs bosons decaying to a pair of $\tau$-leptons and produced in gluon fusion and in association with b-quarks. Strongly destructive effects leave parameter regions unconstrained that would be regarded as excluded if no interference terms were taken into account.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; conference C16-08-03; references updated, some clarification

Impact of CP-violating interference effects on MSSM Higgs searches

Interference and mixing effects between neutral Higgs bosons in the MSSM with complex parameters are shown to have a significant impact on the interpretation of LHC searches for additional Higgs bosons. Complex MSSM parameters introduce mixing between the CP-even and CP-odd Higgs states and generate CP-violating interference terms. Both effects are enhanced in the case of almost degenerate states. Employing as an example an extension of a frequently used benchmark scenario by a non-zero phase $\phi_{A_t}$, the interference contributions are obtained for the production of neutral Higgs bosons in gluon-fusion and in association with b-quarks followed by the decay into a pair of $\tau$-leptons. While the resonant mixing increases the individual cross sections for the two heavy Higgs bosons $h_2$ and $h_3$, strongly destructive interference effects between the contributions involving $h_2$ and $h_3$ leave a considerable parameter region unexcluded that would appear to be ruled out if the interference effects were neglected.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figure

Two-loop top and bottom Yukawa corrections to the Higgs-boson masses in the complex MSSM

Results for the two-loop corrections to the Higgs-boson masses of the MSSM with complex parameters of $\mathcal{O}{\left(\alpha_t^2+\alpha_t\alpha_b+\alpha_b^2\right)}$ from the Yukawa sector in the gauge-less limit are presented. The corresponding self-energies and their renormalization have been obtained in the Feynman-diagrammatic approach. The impact of the new contributions on the Higgs spectrum is investigated. Furthermore, a comparison with an existing result in the limit of the MSSM with real parameters is carried out. The new results will be included in the public code $\texttt{FeynHiggs}$.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

Precise prediction for the W boson mass in the MRSSM

The mass of the W boson, $M_W$, plays a central role for high-precision tests of the electroweak theory. Confronting precise theoretical predictions with the accurately measured experimental value provides a high sensitivity to quantum effects of the theory entering via loop contributions. The currently most accurate prediction for the W boson mass in the Minimal R-symmetric Supersymmetric Standard Model (MRSSM) is presented. Employing the on-shell scheme, it combines all numerically relevant contributions that are known in the Standard Model (SM) in a consistent way with all MRSSM one-loop corrections. Special care is taken in the treatment of the triplet scalar vacuum expectation value $v_T$ that enters the prediction for $M_W$ already at lowest order. In the numerical analysis the decoupling properties of the supersymmetric loop contributions and the comparison with the MSSM are investigated. Potentially large numerical effects of the MRSSM-specific $\Lambda$ superpotential couplings are highlighted. The comparison with existing results in the literature is discussed.Comment: 35 pages, 9 figures; Updated to JHEP version with minor change

NMSSM interpretations of the observed Higgs signal

While the properties of the signal that was discovered in the Higgs searches at the LHC are consistent so far with the Higgs boson of the Standard Model (SM), it is crucial to investigate to what extent other interpretations that may correspond to very different underlying physics are compatible with the current results. We use the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) as a well-motivated theoretical framework with a sufficiently rich Higgs phenomenology to address this question, making use of the public tools HiggsBounds and HiggsSignals in order to take into account comprehensive experimental information on both the observed signal and on the existing limits from Higgs searches at LEP, the TeVatron and the LHC. We find that besides the decoupling limit resulting in a single light state with SM-like properties, several other configurations involving states lighter or quasi-degenerate with the one at about 125 GeV turn out to give a competitive fit to the Higgs data and other existing constraints. We discuss the phenomenology and possible future experimental tests of those scenarios, and compare the features of specific scenarios chosen as examples with those arising from a more global fit.Comment: 46 pages, 23 figures. Version accepted by JHE