Better Higgs Measurements Through Information Geometry

TL;DR

This paper applies information geometry, specifically Fisher information, to optimize Higgs boson measurements at the LHC, enhancing sensitivity to new physics through advanced analysis of event distributions.

Contribution

It introduces a Fisher information framework for Higgs measurements, analyzing how to maximize sensitivity and optimize event selection using differential information.

Findings

Identifies optimal observables for Higgs production and decay.

Quantifies information loss in traditional analysis methods.

Demonstrates the potential of multivariate analysis for Higgs measurements.

Abstract

Information geometry can be used to understand and optimize Higgs measurements at the LHC. The Fisher information encodes the maximum sensitivity of observables to model parameters for a given experiment. Applied to higher-dimensional operators, it defines the new physics reach of any LHC signature. We calculate the Fisher information for Higgs production in weak boson fusion with decays into tau pairs and four leptons, and for Higgs production in association with a single top quark. In a next step we analyze how the differential information is distributed over phase space, which defines optimal event selections. Conversely, we consider the information in the distribution of a subset of the kinematic variables, showing which production and decay observables are the most powerful and how much information is lost in traditional histogram-based analysis methods compared to fully multivariate ones.