Improved cross-section predictions for heavy charged Higgs boson production at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper provides an improved and comprehensive prediction of the production cross section for heavy charged Higgs bosons at the LHC, including uncertainty estimates and scheme comparisons, aiding experimental searches.

Contribution

It offers the first up-to-date NLO cross section calculation in a type-II two-Higgs-doublet model with detailed uncertainty analysis and scheme reconciliation.

Findings

Predictions in four- and five-flavour schemes are consistent after scale adjustments.

Uncertainty estimates account for higher-order corrections, PDFs, and input parameters.

Matched scheme predictions enhance the interpretation of experimental data.

Abstract

In most extensions of the Standard Model, heavy charged Higgs bosons at the LHC are dominantly produced in association with heavy quarks. An up-to-date determination of the next-to-leading order total cross section in a type-II two-Higgs-doublet model is presented, including a thorough estimate of the theoretical uncertainties due to missing higher-order corrections, parton distribution functions and physical input parameters. Predictions in the four- and five-flavour schemes are compared and reconciled through a recently proposed scale-setting prescription. A four- and five-flavour scheme matched prediction is provided for the interpretation of current and future experimental searches for heavy charged Higgs bosons at the LHC.