Prospects for Heavy Scalar Searches at the LHeC

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the potential of the proposed LHeC collider to discover or constrain a heavy neutral scalar particle in a minimal extension of the Standard Model involving a singlet scalar, using advanced analysis techniques.

Contribution

It demonstrates the sensitivity of the LHeC to heavy scalars with masses between 200 and 800 GeV and small mixing angles, providing new prospects for beyond Standard Model searches.

Findings

LHeC can detect heavy scalars with masses up to 800 GeV.

Sensitivity to scalar mixing angles as small as 10^{-3}.

Multivariate analysis enhances detection prospects.

Abstract

In this article we study the prospects of the proposed Large Hadron electron Collider (LHeC) in the search for heavy neutral scalar particles. We consider a minimal model with one additional complex scalar singlet that interacts with the Standard Model (SM) via mixing with the Higgs doublet, giving rise to a SM-like Higgs boson $h_1$ and a heavy scalar particle $h_2$. Both scalar particles are produced via vector boson fusion and can be tested via their decays into pairs of SM particles, analogously to the SM Higgs boson. Using multivariate techniques we show that the LHeC is sensitive to $h_2$ with masses between 200 and 800 GeV down to scalar mixing of $\sin^2 \alpha \sim 10^{-3}$.