# Constraints on anomalous HVV couplings from the production of Higgs bosons decaying to $\tau$ lepton pairs

## TL;DR

This paper investigates anomalous Higgs to vector boson couplings, including CP properties, using LHC data and matrix element techniques, providing the most stringent constraints to date consistent with the Standard Model.

## Contribution

It introduces a combined analysis of Higgs decays to tau pairs and four-lepton channels to set new limits on anomalous HVV couplings and CP violation parameters.

## Key findings

- Most stringent constraints on anomalous HVV couplings.
- Results consistent with Standard Model expectations.
- Combined analysis improves sensitivity to CP-violating effects.

## Abstract

A study is presented of anomalous HVV interactions of the Higgs boson, including its $CP$ properties. The study uses Higgs boson candidates produced mainly in vector boson fusion and gluon fusion that subsequently decay to a pair of $\tau$ leptons. The data were recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. A matrix element technique is employed for the analysis of anomalous interactions. The results are combined with those from the H $\to 4\ell$ decay channel presented earlier, yielding the most stringent constraints on anomalous Higgs boson couplings to electroweak vector bosons expressed as effective cross section fractions and phases: the $CP$-violating parameter $f_{a3}\cos(\phi_{a3})$ $=$ $(0.00 \pm 0.27) \times 10^{-3}$ and the $CP$-conserving parameters $f_{a2}\cos(\phi_{a2})$ $=$ $(0.08 ^{+1.04}_{-0.21}) \times 10^{-3}$, $f_{\Lambda1}\cos(\phi_{\Lambda1})$ $=$ $(0.00 ^{+0.53}_{-0.09}) \times 10^{-3}$, and $f_{\Lambda1}^{\mathrm{Z}\gamma}\cos(\phi_{\Lambda1}^{\mathrm{Z}\gamma})$ $=$ $(0.0 ^{+1.1}_{-1.3}) \times 10^{-3}$. The current dataset does not allow for precise constraints on $CP$ properties in the gluon fusion process. The results are consistent with standard model expectations.