Search for charged Higgs bosons decaying via $H^{\pm} \to \tau^{\pm}\nu_{\tau}$ in the $\tau$+jets and $\tau$+lepton final states with 36 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data recorded at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV with the ATLAS experiment

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for charged Higgs bosons decaying into tau and neutrino in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV, setting upper limits on production cross-sections and branching fractions with no evidence found.

Contribution

First search using 36 fb$^{-1}$ of ATLAS data for charged Higgs in tau+jets and tau+lepton final states, establishing new upper limits across a wide mass range.

Findings

No evidence of charged Higgs bosons was observed.

Upper limits set on production cross-section times branching ratio from 4.2 to 0.0025 pb.

Branching fraction limits for top-quark decays to charged Higgs are between 0.25% and 0.031%.

Abstract

Charged Higgs bosons produced either in top-quark decays or in association with a top-quark, subsequently decaying via $H^{\pm} \to \tau^{\pm}\nu_{\tau}$, are searched for in 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector. Depending on whether the top-quark produced together with $H^{\pm}$ decays hadronically or leptonically, the search targets $\tau$+jets and $\tau$+lepton final states, in both cases with a hadronically decaying $\tau$-lepton. No evidence of a charged Higgs boson is found. For the mass range of $m_{H^{\pm}}$ = 90-2000 GeV, upper limits at the 95% confidence level are set on the production cross-section of the charged Higgs boson times the branching fraction $\mathrm{B}(H^{\pm} \to \tau^{\pm}\nu_{\tau})$ in the range 4.2-0.0025 pb. In the mass range 90-160 GeV, assuming the Standard Model cross-section for $t\overline{t}$ production, this corresponds to upper limits between 0.25% and 0.031% for the branching fraction $\mathrm{B}(t\to bH^{\pm}) \times \mathrm{B}(H^{\pm} \to \tau^{\pm}\nu_{\tau})$.