Constraining Light-Quark Yukawa Couplings from Higgs Distributions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new approach to constrain light-quark Yukawa couplings by analyzing Higgs transverse momentum distributions at the LHC, avoiding complex final state reconstructions.

Contribution

The authors develop a novel method that enhances sensitivity to light-quark Yukawa couplings through differential Higgs spectra distortions, applicable with current and future LHC data.

Findings

Constraints derived from LHC Run I data.

Potential for improved bounds at future LHC runs.

Discussion on bounding the strange Yukawa coupling.

Abstract

We propose a novel strategy to constrain the bottom and charm Yukawa couplings by exploiting LHC measurements of transverse momentum distributions in Higgs production. Our method does not rely on the reconstruction of exclusive final states or heavy-flavour tagging. Compared to other proposals it leads to an enhanced sensitivity to the Yukawa couplings due to distortions of the differential Higgs spectra from emissions which either probe quark loops or are associated to quark-initiated production. We derive constraints using data from LHC Run I, and we explore the prospects of our method at future LHC runs. Finally, we comment on the possibility of bounding the strange Yukawa coupling.