Collider Bounds on Lee-Wick Higgs Bosons

TL;DR

This paper investigates collider constraints on Lee-Wick Higgs bosons within an effective field theory framework, identifying excluded parameter regions and assessing LHC prospects for discovery.

Contribution

It introduces a two-Higgs doublet model with Lee-Wick partners and analyzes collider search bounds using HiggsBounds, providing new insights into the parameter space constraints.

Findings

Current collider data exclude significant regions of Lee-Wick Higgs parameter space.

LHC Run-I with 5 fb$^{-1}$ at 7 TeV can probe most of the SM-like Higgs parameter space.

The Lee-Wick Higgs sector remains viable within certain parameter ranges.

Abstract

We study the constraints on the Lee-Wick Higgs sector arising from direct collider searches. We work in an effective-field theory framework, where all of the Lee-Wick partners are integrated out, with the sole exception of the Lee-Wick Higgs bosons. The resulting theory is a two-Higgs doublet model where the second doublet has wrong-sign kinetic and mass terms. We include the bounds coming from direct Higgs searches at both LEP and Tevatron using the code HiggsBounds, and show the currently excluded parameter space. We also analyze the prospects of LHC Run-I, finding that with a total integrated luminosity of 5 fb $^{-1}$ and a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, most of the parameter space for the SM-like CP-even Higgs will be probed.