Non-sterile electroweak-scale right-handed neutrinos and the dual nature of the 125-GeV scalar

TL;DR

This paper explores whether the 125-GeV scalar observed at the LHC is truly the Standard Model Higgs or an impostor, within a minimal extension of the electroweak-scale right-handed neutrino model that allows for different scalar spectra.

Contribution

It introduces a minimal model extension where the 125-GeV scalar could be either SM-like or significantly different, both compatible with experimental signal strengths.

Findings

The model accommodates a scalar spectrum with either SM-like or non-SM-like 125-GeV scalar.

Both scalar types can have signal strengths consistent with current experimental data.

The 125-GeV scalar might be an impostor rather than the Standard Model Higgs.

Abstract

Can, and under which conditions, the 125-\gev SM-like scalar with the signal strengths for its decays into $W^{+}W^{-}$, $ZZ$, $\gamma \gamma$, $b \bar{b}$ and $\tau \bar{\tau}$ being consistent with experiments be accommodated in models that go beyond the Standard Model? Is it truly what it appears to be, namely the SM Higgs boson, or could it be quite different? A minimal extension of the original electroweak-scale right-handed neutrino model, in which right-handed neutrinos naturally obtain electroweak-scale masses, shows a scalar spectrum which includes either the 125-\gev SM-like scalar or a scalar which is quite {\em unlike} that of the Standard Model, both of which possessing signal strengths compatible with experiment. In other words, the 125-\gev scalar could be an {\em impostor}.