Searches for exclusive Higgs and $Z$ boson decays into $J/\psi\gamma$, $\psi(2S)\gamma$, and $\Upsilon(nS)\gamma$ at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

TL;DR

This paper reports on searches for rare Higgs and Z boson decays into quarkonium states plus a photon using ATLAS data at 13 TeV, setting upper limits on their branching fractions.

Contribution

First search to set experimental upper limits on exclusive Higgs and Z boson decays into quarkonium plus photon at 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector.

Findings

No significant excess observed above background.

Upper limits on Higgs decay branching fractions range from 10^{-4} to 10^{-3}.

Upper limits on Z boson decay branching fractions are around 10^{-6}.

Abstract

Searches for the exclusive decays of the Higgs and $Z$ bosons into a $J/\psi$, $\psi(2S)$, or $\Upsilon(nS)$ ($n=1,2,3$) meson and a photon are performed with a $pp$ collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ collected at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess of events is observed above the expected backgrounds, and 95% confidence-level upper limits on the branching fractions of the Higgs boson decays to $J/\psi\gamma$, $\psi(2S)\gamma$, and $\Upsilon(nS)\gamma$ of $3.5\times10^{-4}$, $2.0\times10^{-3}$, and $(4.9,5.9,5.7)\times10^{-4}$, respectively, are obtained assuming Standard Model production. The corresponding 95% confidence-level upper limits for the branching fractions of the $Z$ boson decays are $2.3\times10^{-6}$, $4.5\times10^{-6}$ and $(2.8,1.7,4.8)\times10^{-6}$, respectively.