Graviton resonance phenomenology and a pNGB Higgs at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper models a spin-two graviton and a pNGB Higgs in a two-site framework, analyzing their phenomenology at the LHC and identifying the most promising channels for detection within certain mass ranges.

Contribution

It introduces a simplified parameter set to describe graviton phenomenology and compares theoretical predictions with experimental limits across decay channels.

Findings

$ZZ$, $WW$, and $\gamma\gamma$ channels are most sensitive for graviton detection.

The importance of $ZZ$ and $WW$ channels increases with graviton mass due to better background suppression.

The study estimates the LHC's current exclusion limits and future reach for graviton detection.

Abstract

We present an effective description of a spin two massive state and a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson Higgs in a two site model. Using this framework we model the spin two state as a massive graviton and we study its phenomenology at the LHC. We find that a reduced set of parameters can describe the most important features of this scenario. We address the question of which channel is the most sensitive to detect this graviton. Instead of designing search strategies to estimate the significance in each channel, we compare the ratio of our theoretical predictions to the limits set by available experimental searches for all the decay channels and as a function of the free parameters in the model. We discuss the phenomenological details contained in the outcome of this simple procedure. The results indicate that, for the studied masses between 0.5 and 3 TeV, the channels to look for such a graviton resonance are mainly $ZZ$, $WW$ and $\gamma\gamma$. This is the case even though top and bottom quarks dominate the branching ratios, since their experimental sensitivity is not as good as the one of the electro-weak gauge bosons. We find that as the graviton mass increases, the $ZZ$ and $WW$ channels become more important because of its relatively better enhancement over background, mainly due to fat jet techniques. We determine the region of the parameter space that has already been excluded and the reach for the LHC next stages. We also estimate the size of the loop-induced contributions to the production and decay of the graviton, and show in which region of the parameter space their effects are relevant for our analysis.