Novel Higgs decay signals in R-parity violating models

TL;DR

This paper explores how R-parity violating supersymmetric models can produce unique Higgs decay signals at colliders, potentially aiding Higgs discovery and revealing new physics through distinctive decay patterns and displaced vertices.

Contribution

It introduces novel Higgs decay channels in R-parity violating models and discusses their implications for collider searches, especially at the LHC.

Findings

Higgs can decay into neutralinos with R-parity violation, leading to distinctive collider signatures.

Potential for Higgs detection via decay into leptons and missing energy at the LHC.

Displaced vertices from neutralino decay offer additional evidence for R-parity violation.

Abstract

In supersymmetric models the lightest Higgs boson may decay with a sizable branching ratio into a pair of light neutralinos. We analyze such decays within the context of the minimal supersymmetric standard model with R-parity violation, where the neutralino itself is unstable and decays into Standard Model fermions. We show that the R-parity violating couplings induce novel Higgs decay signals that might facilitate the discovery of the Higgs boson at colliders. At the LHC, the Higgs may be observed, for instance, through its decay -via two neutralinos- into final states containing missing energy and isolated charged leptons such as $l^\pm l^\mp, l^\pm l^\pm, 3l$, and $4l$. Another promising possibility is the search for the displaced vertices associated with the neutralino decay. We also point out that Higgs searches at the LHC might additionally provide the first evidence of R-parity violation.