Search for $t\bar{t}H$ and $tH$ production with $H\to \gamma \gamma$ at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

TL;DR

This paper reports on the search for top-associated Higgs production ($t\bar{t}H$ and $tH$) with Higgs decaying to photons at 13 TeV using ATLAS, aiming to measure the top quark Yukawa coupling.

Contribution

It presents the latest analysis strategy and results for detecting $t\bar{t}H$ and $tH$ production in the diphoton channel at the LHC, highlighting the sensitivity to the Yukawa coupling sign.

Findings

Search for $t\bar{t}H$ and $tH$ production established.

Results constrain the top Yukawa coupling.

Analysis demonstrates the potential of the diphoton channel.

Abstract

The measurement of the Yukawa coupling of the top quark is one important goal of particle physics after the discovery of the Higgs boson. There are two processes that offer the possibility to directly measure the Yukawa coupling of the top quark at the LHC. These are the production of a top-antitop-quark pair in association with a Higgs boson via the strong interaction ($t\bar{t}H$) and the electroweak production of a single top quark and a Higgs boson ($tH$). In the Standard Model, the cross section for $tH$ production is much smaller than the cross section for $t\bar{t}H$ production as there is a destructive interference between diagrams where the Higgs boson is radiated off a top quark and diagrams where it is radiated off a $W$ boson. Despite the reduced cross section, this interference provides additional sensitivity to the sign of the Yukawa coupling. The considered Higgs boson decay into photons is promising due to the good energy resolution of the photons and the relatively small backgrounds. But it is also challenging due to the small branching ratio. The analysis strategy and the latest results on the search for $t\bar{t}H/tH$ production in the diphoton channel at the ATLAS experiment are presented.