Two Higgs bosons near 125 GeV in the complex NMSSM and the LHC Run-I data

We analyse the impact of explicit CP-violation in the Higgs sector of the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) on its consistency with the Higgs boson data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Through detailed scans of the parameter space of the complex NMSSM for certain fixed values of one of its CP-violating (CPV) phases, we obtain a large number of points corresponding to five phenomenologically relevant scenarios containing $\sim 125$ GeV Higgs boson(s). We focus, in particular, on the scenarios where the visible peaks in the experimental samples can actually be explained by two nearly mass-degenerate neutral Higgs boson states. We find that some points corresponding to these scenarios give an overall slightly improved fit to the data, more so for non-zero values of the CPV phase, compared to the scenarios containing a single Higgs boson near 125 GeV.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures. Substantially revised text, improved results and figures, overall conclusions unchanged. Some added references. Version to appear in the special issue "Supersymmetry beyond the (N)MSSM" of AHE

Improved Constraints on Z' Bosons from Electroweak Precision Data

We analyze various models with an extra U(1) gauge symmetry in addition to the Standard Model (SM) gauge group at low energies, and impose limits on the mass of the neutral Z' boson, M_Z', predicted in all such models, and on the Z-Z' mixing angle, theta_ZZ'. The precision electroweak data strongly constrain theta_ZZ' to very small values and for most models we find lower limits on M_Z' of order 1 TeV. In one case we obtain a somewhat better fit than in the SM (although this is only marginally statistically significant) and here we find a weak upper limit at the 90% C.L.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, final version as it will appear in Journal (JHEP

Quantum interference among heavy NMSSM Higgs bosons

In the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM), it is possible to have strong mass degeneracies between the new singlet-like scalar and the heavy doublet-like scalar, as well as between the singlet-like and doublet-like pseudoscalar Higgs states. When the difference in the masses of such states is comparable with the sum of their widths, the quantum mechanical interference between their propagators can become significant. We study these effects by taking into account the full Higgs boson propagator matrix in the calculation of the production process of $\tau^+\tau^-$ pairs in gluon fusion at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We find that, while these interference effects are sizeable, they are not resolvable in terms of the distributions of differential cross sections, owing to the poor detector resolution of the $\tau^+\tau^-$ invariant mass. They are, however, identifiable via the inclusive cross sections, which are subject to significant variations with respect to the standard approaches, wherein the propagating Higgs bosons are treated independently from one another. We quantify these effects for several representative benchmark points, extracted from a large set of points, obtained by numerical scanning of the NMSSM parameter space, that satisfy the most important experimental constraints currently available.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables. Revised benchmark points and figures, overall results and conclusions unchanged. Version to appear in PR

Closing in on the Wino LSP via trilepton searches at the LHC

The neutralino dark matter (DM) predicted by the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) has been probed in several search modes at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), one of the leading ones among which is the trilepton plus missing transverse momentum channel. The experimental analysis of this mode has, however, been designed to probe mainly a bino-like DM, originating in the decays of a pair of next-to-lightest neutralino and lightest chargino, both of which are assumed to be wino-like. In this study, we analyse how this trilepton channel can be tuned for probing also the wino-like DM. We note that, while the mentioned standard production mode generally leads to a relatively poor sensitivity for the wino-like DM, there are regions in the MSSM parameter space where the net yield in the trilepton final state can be substantially enhanced at the LHC with $\sqrt{s}=14$ TeV. This is achieved by taking into account also an alternative channel, pair-production of the wino-like DM itself in association with the heavier chargino, and optimisation of the kinematical cuts currently employed by the LHC collaborations. In particular, we find that the cut on the transverse mass of the third lepton highly suppresses both the signal channels and should therefore be discarded in this DM scenario. We perform a detailed detector-level study of some selected parameter space points that are consistent with the most important experimental constraints, including the recent ones from the direct and indirect DM detection facilities. Our analysis demonstrates the high complementarity of the two channels, with their combined significance reaching above 4$\sigma$ for a wino-like DM mass around 100 GeV, with an integrated luminosity as low as 100 fb$^{-1}$.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables. Exclusion limits from Dark Matter Indirect Detection also taken into account. Significant improvements in figures and text. Final results and conclusions unchanged. Version to appear in JHE

Two Higgs bosons near 125 GeV in the NMSSM: beyond the narrow width approximation

In the next-to-minimal supersymmetric (NMS) Standard Model (SM), it is possible for either one of the additional singlet-like scalar and pseudoscalar Higgs bosons to be almost degenerate in mass with the ~125 GeV SM-like Higgs state. In the real NMSSM (rNMSSM), when the mass difference between two scalar states is comparable to their individual total decay widths, the quantum mechanical interference, due to the relevant diagonal as well as off-diagonal terms in the propagator matrix, between them can become sizable. This possibility invalidates usage of the narrow width approximation (NWA) to compute the cross section for the production of a di-photon pair with a given invariant mass via resonant Higgs boson(s) in the gluon fusion process at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). When, motivated by the baryon asymmetry of the universe, CP-violating (CPV) phases are explicitly invoked in the Higgs sector of the NMSSM, all the interaction eigenstates mix to give five CP-indefinite physical Higgs bosons. In this scenario, the interference effects due the off-diagonal terms in the Higgs mass matrix that mix the pseudoscalar-like state with the SM-like one can also become significant, when these two are sufficiently mass-degenerate. We perform a detailed analysis, in both the real and complex NMSSM, of these interference effects, when the full propagator matrix is taken into account, in the production of a photon pair with an invariant mass near 125 GeV through gluon fusion. We find that these effects can account for up to ~40% of the total cross section for certain model parameter configurations. We also investigate how such mutually interfering states contributing to the ~125 GeV signal observed at the LHC can be distinguished from a single resonance.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures. Typos corrected, some figures and text improved. Version published in EPJ

A light NMSSM pseudoscalar Higgs boson at the LHC Run 2

We revisit the light pseudoscalar $A_1$ in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) with partial universality at some high unification scale in order to delineate the parameter space regions consistent with up-to-date theoretical and experimental constraints and examine to what extent this state can be probed by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) during Run 2. We find that it can be accessible through a variety of signatures proceeding via $A_1\to \tau^+\tau^-$ and/or $b\bar b$, the former assuming hadronic decays and the latter two $b$-tags within a fat jet or two separate slim ones. Herein, the light pseudoscalar state is produced from a heavy Higgs boson decay in either pairs or singly in association with a $Z$ boson (in turn decaying into electrons/muons).Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, 1 table - Talk given at the Toyama International Workshop on Higgs as a Probe of New Physics 2015, 11-15, February, 2015, Toyama, Japa

A light NMSSM pseudoscalar Higgs boson at the LHC redux

The Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) contains a singlet-like pseudoscalar Higgs boson in addition to the doublet-like pseudoscalar of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. This new pseudoscalar can have a very low mass without violating the LEP exclusion constraints and it can potentially provide a hallmark signature of non-minimal supersymmetry at the LHC. In this analysis we revisit the light pseudoscalar in the NMSSM with partial universality at some high unification scale. We delineate the regions of the model's parameter space that are consistent with the up-to-date theoretical and experimental constraints, from both Higgs boson searches and elsewhere (most notably $b$-physics), and examine to what extent they can be probed by the LHC. To this end we review the most important production channels of such a Higgs state and assess the scope of its observation at the forthcoming Run-2 of the LHC. We conclude that the $b\bar{b}$-associated production of the pseudoscalar, which has been emphasised in previous studies, does not carry much promise anymore, given the measured mass of the Higgs boson at the LHC. However, the decays of one of the heavier scalar Higgsbosons of the NMSSM can potentially lead to the discovery of its light pseudoscalar. Especially promising are the decays of one or both of the two lightest scalar states into a pseudoscalar pair and of the heaviest scalar into a pseudoscalar and a $Z$ boson. Since the latter channel has not been explored in detail in the literature so far, we provide details of some benchmark points which can be probed for establishing its signature.Comment: 33 pages, 13 figures. Typos corrected, figures and some text improved, references added. Version to appear in JHE