Excess Higgs Production in Neutralino Decays

TL;DR

This paper explores how supersymmetric models with neutralino decays can produce excess Higgs events at the LHC, especially via diphoton channels, offering new avenues for discovering physics beyond the Standard Model.

Contribution

It proposes a novel mechanism for excess Higgs production through neutralino decays in SUSY models and suggests specific experimental signatures for detection at the LHC.

Findings

Potential 50% excess in diphoton Higgs production over SM predictions.

Identification of diphoton resonance with missing energy or leptons as a discovery channel.

Predicted correlated excesses in multiple SUSY search channels.

Abstract

The ATLAS and CMS experiments have recently claimed discovery of a Higgs boson-like particle at ~5 sigma confidence and are beginning to test the Standard Model predictions for its production and decay. In a variety of supersymmetric models, a neutralino NLSP can decay dominantly to the Higgs and the LSP. In natural SUSY models, a light third generation squark decaying through this chain can lead to large excess Higgs production while evading existing BSM searches. Such models can be observed at the 8 TeV LHC in channels exploiting the rare diphoton decays of the Higgs produced in the cascade decay. Identifying a diphoton resonance in association with missing energy, a lepton, or b-tagged jets is a promising search strategy for discovery of these models, and would immediately signal new physics involving production of a Higgs boson. We also discuss the possibility that excess Higgs production in these SUSY decays can be responsible for enhancements of up to 50% over the SM prediction for the observed rate in the existing inclusive diphoton searches, a scenario which would likely by the end of the 8 TeV run be accompanied by excesses in the diphoton + lepton/MET and SUSY multi-lepton/b searches and a potential discovery in a diphoton + 2b search.