NMSSM interpretations of the observed Higgs signal

TL;DR

This paper explores how the NMSSM framework can accommodate the observed Higgs signal, revealing multiple viable configurations beyond the SM-like Higgs, and discusses their phenomenology and experimental testability.

Contribution

It demonstrates that various NMSSM scenarios, including lighter or quasi-degenerate states, can fit Higgs data well, expanding the understanding of possible physics beyond the Standard Model.

Findings

Multiple NMSSM configurations fit Higgs data well

Decoupling limit with SM-like Higgs is not the only viable scenario

Light or quasi-degenerate Higgs states are compatible with current constraints

Abstract

While the properties of the signal that was discovered in the Higgs searches at the LHC are consistent so far with the Higgs boson of the Standard Model (SM), it is crucial to investigate to what extent other interpretations that may correspond to very different underlying physics are compatible with the current results. We use the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) as a well-motivated theoretical framework with a sufficiently rich Higgs phenomenology to address this question, making use of the public tools HiggsBounds and HiggsSignals in order to take into account comprehensive experimental information on both the observed signal and on the existing limits from Higgs searches at LEP, the TeVatron and the LHC. We find that besides the decoupling limit resulting in a single light state with SM-like properties, several other configurations involving states lighter or quasi-degenerate with the one at about 125 GeV turn out to give a competitive fit to the Higgs data and other existing constraints. We discuss the phenomenology and possible future experimental tests of those scenarios, and compare the features of specific scenarios chosen as examples with those arising from a more global fit.