An approach to constraining the Higgs width at the LHC and HL-LHC

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel method to constrain the Higgs boson total width at the LHC and HL-LHC by using high pT jet resolution and machine learning, offering a potentially model-independent measurement.

Contribution

It introduces a new approach combining jet reconstruction and machine learning to measure the Higgs width, complementing existing off-shell methods.

Findings

Method is complementary to off-shell width measurements.

Capable of achieving similar sensitivity with HL-LHC data.

Outlines theoretical and experimental limitations for future improvements.

Abstract

Despite the discovery of the Higgs boson decay in five separate channels many parameters of the Higgs boson remain largely unconstrained. In this paper, we present a new approach to constraining the Higgs total width by requiring the Higgs to be resolved as a single high p$_T$ jet and measuring the inclusive Higgs boson cross section. To measure the inclusive Higgs boson cross section, we rely on new approaches from machine learning and a modified jet reconstruction. This approach is found to be complementary to the existing off-shell width measurement and, with the full HL-LHC luminosity, is capable of yielding similar sensitivity to the off-shell projections. We outline the theoretical and experimental limitations and present a path towards making this approach a truly model-independent measurement of the Higgs boson total width.