Topcolor in the LHC Era

TL;DR

This paper discusses how LHC searches constrain top-Higgs models with strong top-quark interactions, excluding certain mass ranges and impacting theories like topcolor-assisted technicolor and top-seesaw models.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive analysis of LHC constraints on top-Higgs states in various models with strong top dynamics.

Findings

Top-Higgs with mass < 300 GeV excluded at 95% CL under certain conditions.

Constraints are stronger if the top-pion mass exceeds the top-quark mass.

Results significantly impact models like topcolor-assisted technicolor and top-seesaw.

Abstract

Ongoing LHC searches for the standard model Higgs Boson in WW or ZZ decay modes strongly constrain the top-Higgs state predicted in many models with new dynamics that preferentially affects top quarks. Such a state couples strongly to top-quarks, and is therefore produced through gluon fusion at a rate that can be greatly enhanced relative to the rate for the standard model Higgs boson. As we discuss in this talk, a top-Higgs state with mass less than 300 GeV is excluded at 95% CL if the associated top-pion has a mass of 150 GeV, and the constraint is even stronger if the mass of the top-pion state exceeds the top-quark mass or if the top-pion decay constant is a substantial fraction of the weak scale. These results have significant implications for theories with strong top dynamics, such as topcolor-assisted technicolor, top-seesaw models, and certain Higgsless models.