Search for direct production of electroweakinos in final states with one lepton, missing transverse momentum and a Higgs boson decaying into two $b$-jets in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for electroweakinos in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV, focusing on final states with a lepton, missing transverse momentum, and a Higgs decaying into two b-jets, setting mass exclusion limits up to 740 GeV.

Contribution

First search targeting electroweakino production with Higgs decay into b-jets in this specific final state at 13 TeV with ATLAS, establishing new mass exclusion limits.

Findings

No significant excess observed over Standard Model expectations.

Excluded electroweakino masses up to 740 GeV at 95% confidence level.

Set limits assuming pure wino production cross-sections.

Abstract

The results of a search for electroweakino pair production $pp \rightarrow \tilde\chi^\pm_1 \tilde\chi^0_2$ in which the chargino ($\tilde\chi^\pm_1$) decays into a $W$ boson and the lightest neutralino ($\tilde\chi^0_1$), while the heavier neutralino ($\tilde\chi^0_2$) decays into the Standard Model 125 GeV Higgs boson and a second $\tilde\chi^0_1$ are presented. The signal selection requires a pair of $b$-tagged jets consistent with those from a Higgs boson decay, and either an electron or a muon from the $W$ boson decay, together with missing transverse momentum from the corresponding neutrino and the stable neutralinos. The analysis is based on data corresponding to 139 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV $pp$ collisions provided by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector. No statistically significant evidence of an excess of events above the Standard Model expectation is found. Limits are set on the direct production of the electroweakinos in simplified models, assuming pure wino cross-sections. Masses of $\tilde{\chi}^{\pm}_{1}/\tilde{\chi}^{0}_{2}$ up to 740 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for a massless $\tilde{\chi}^{0}_{1}$.