Charged Higgs boson in the $W^\pm$ Higgs channel at the Large Hadron Collider

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the potential of detecting a charged Higgs boson via the $W^ op H_{ m obs}$ decay channel at the LHC, considering various models and luminosities, and finds promising results for certain two-Higgs doublet models.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the LHC discovery prospects for charged Higgs bosons in the $W^ op H_{ m obs}$ channel across different models and luminosities.

Findings

Channel promising for two-Higgs doublet models

Limited potential for supersymmetric $H^ op$ detection

Significant parameter space testable at high luminosity

Abstract

In light of the recent discovery of a neutral Higgs boson, $H_{\rm obs}$, with a mass near 125 GeV, we reassess the LHC discovery potential of a charged Higgs boson, $H^\pm$, in the $W^\pm H_{\rm obs}$ decay channel. This decay channel can be particularly important for a $H^\pm$ heavier than the top quark, when it is produced through the $pp \rightarrow tH^\pm$ process. The knowledge of the mass of $H_{\rm obs}$ provides an additional handle in the kinematic selection when reconstructing a Breit-Wigner resonance in the $H_{\rm obs} \rightarrow b\bar{b}$ decay channel. We consider some extensions of the Standard Model Higgs sector, with and without supersymmetry, and perform a dedicated signal-to-background analysis to test the scope of this channel for the LHC running at the design energy (14 TeV), for 300/fb (standard) and 3000/fb (high) integrated luminosities. We find that, while this channel does not show much promise for a supersymmetric $H^\pm$ state, significant portions of the parameter spaces of several two-Higgs doublet models are testable.