Higgs Interference Effects in $\Pg \Pg \to \PZ\PZ$ and their Uncertainty

TL;DR

This paper investigates the interference effects between the Standard Model Higgs boson and background processes in gluon-gluon to Z Z production, proposing methods to estimate related theoretical uncertainties.

Contribution

It introduces a framework to combine interference effects with higher-order Higgs production calculations and estimates the associated uncertainties.

Findings

Interference effects significantly impact heavy-mass Higgs analyses.

A method to combine leading-order interference with NNLO Higgs cross-sections is proposed.

An uncertainty estimation procedure for interference effects is developed.

Abstract

Interference between the Standard Model Higgs boson and continuum contributions is considered in the heavy-mass scenario. Results are available at leading order for the background. It is discussed how to combine the result with the next-to-next-to-leading order Higgs production cross-section and a proposal for estimating the associated theoretical uncertainty is presented.