Search for resonant pair production of Higgs bosons in the bbZZ channel in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports the first search for resonant Higgs boson pair production in the bbZZ decay channel using 13 TeV proton-proton collision data, setting limits on various theoretical models and resonance masses.

Contribution

It presents the first search for Higgs boson resonant pair production in the bbZZ channel and establishes new limits on models like Randall-Sundrum radion and N2HDM.

Findings

Limits on production cross section range from 0.1 to 5.0 pb for spin-0 resonances.

Limits on production cross section range from 0.1 to 3.6 pb for spin-2 resonances.

Excludes certain parameter regions in N2HDM between 360 and 620 GeV.

Abstract

A search for the production of a narrow-width resonance decaying into a pair of Higgs bosons decaying into the bbZZ channel is presented. The analysis is based on data collected with the CMS detector during 2016, in proton-proton collisions at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The final states considered are the ones where one of the Z bosons decays into a pair of muons or electrons, and the other Z boson decays either to a pair of quarks or a pair of neutrinos. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are placed on the production of narrow-width spin-0 or spin-2 particles decaying to a pair of Higgs bosons, in models with and without an extended Higgs sector. For a resonance mass range between 260 and 1000 GeV, limits on the production cross section times branching fraction of a spin-0 and spin-2 resonance range from 0.1 to 5.0 pb and 0.1 to 3.6 pb, respectively. These results set limits in parameter space in bulk Randall-Sundrum radion, Kaluza-Klein excitation of the graviton, and N2HDM models. For specific choices of parameters the N2HDM can be excluded in a mass range between 360 and 620 GeV for a resonance decaying to two Higgs bosons. This is the first search for Higgs boson resonant pair production in the bbZZ channel.