Spin-2 Resonances in Vector-Boson-Fusion Processes at NLO QCD

TL;DR

This paper develops an effective model for spin-2 resonances in vector-boson-fusion at the LHC, enabling NLO QCD calculations to distinguish spin-2 states from the Higgs via decay and angular distributions.

Contribution

It introduces a new effective Lagrangian model for spin-2 resonances and implements NLO QCD calculations in VBFNLO for collider phenomenology.

Findings

Angular distributions help distinguish spin-2 from Higgs resonances.

NLO QCD corrections are incorporated into the simulation.

Characteristics of heavy spin-2 decays into gauge bosons are analyzed.

Abstract

The most likely spin assignments of the recently discovered 126 GeV resonance are spin 0 or 2. In order to distinguish the two, we construct an effective Lagrangian model which comprises interactions of a spin-2 electroweak singlet or triplet state with the SM gauge bosons. Within this model, cross sections and differential distributions are calculated and implemented within the Monte Carlo program VBFNLO, which simulates vector-boson-fusion processes at hadron colliders at NLO QCD accuracy. We study the phenomenology of spin-2 resonances produced in vector-boson-fusion processes at the LHC. Specifically, we consider light Higgs-like spin-2 resonances decaying into two photons and show how angular distributions allow us to distinguish between a Standard Model Higgs and a spin-2 resonance. We also investigate the characteristics of heavy spin-2 resonances which decay into two weak gauge bosons, leading to a four-lepton final state.