Search for associated production of a Higgs boson with a single top quark

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for the associated production of a Higgs boson with a single top quark at 8 TeV, using CMS data, focusing on scenarios with an inverted Yukawa coupling sign, employing machine learning for sensitivity.

Contribution

It introduces a search optimized for an inverted Yukawa coupling sign, utilizing multiple decay modes and machine learning techniques to enhance detection sensitivity.

Findings

No significant excess observed in data.

Constraints placed on the Higgs-top coupling sign.

Enhanced sensitivity achieved through machine learning methods.

Abstract

We present a search for the production of a Higgs boson in association with a single top quark ($tHq$), using data samples collected by the CMS detector in $pp$ collisions at center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV corresponding to integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb$^{-1}$. The search exploits a variety of top quark and Higgs boson decay modes resulting in final states with photons, bottom quarks, or multileptons, and employs a variety of machine learning techniques to maximize the sensitivity to the signal. The present analysis is optimized for a scenario where the Yukawa coupling has sign opposite to the standard model prediction, which would result in a large enhancement of the signal cross section. Results for individual final states and the combined results will be presented.