Higgs Production in Association with Top Squark Pairs in the MSSM at the LHC: the Decay Patterns

TL;DR

This paper investigates the decay patterns of Higgs production with top squark pairs in the MSSM at the LHC, highlighting potential detection channels and their dependence on supersymmetric parameters.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive decay analysis of the Higgs and stop pair production, identifying promising detection channels in the MSSM and SUGRA frameworks.

Findings

Certain decay channels involving charm and bottom quarks are promising for detection.

The production rate depends strongly on supersymmetric parameters.

Detection prospects are feasible at the LHC with suitable parameter choices.

Abstract

The production of the lightest Higgs boson, $h^0$, in association with the lightest stop, $\tilde{t}_{1}$, in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, is an interesting channel, as its cross section can be higher than Higgs production in association with top quarks. Furthermore, the $\tilde{t}_{1}\tilde{t}^{*}_{1}h^{0}$ production rate is highly dependent on various Supersymmetric parameters. The mass, mixings, couplings and production cross sections relevant to the $\tilde{t}_{1}\tilde{t}^{*}_{1}h^{0}$ channel have been studied in the past. Here, we complement these analyses by performing a thorough decay study. We conclude that there is some scope for extracting this channel at the Large Hadron Collider, for suitable combinations of the Supersymmetric parameters, in several different decay channels of both the stop quarks and Higgs boson, the most numerically promising being the signature involving charm decays of the stops and bottom decay of the Higgs. This, in fact, remains true in the Supergravity inspired Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model.