Precision SMEFT bounds from the VBF Higgs at high transverse momentum

TL;DR

This paper investigates how high transverse momentum Higgs production via vector-boson fusion can set stringent bounds on SMEFT operators, surpassing previous LEP constraints, through detailed collider simulations.

Contribution

It identifies dominant operator combinations in high pT Higgs VBF production and demonstrates their potential for improved SMEFT bounds using collider data.

Findings

High pT Higgs VBF is sensitive to key SMEFT operators.

Quadratic growth of SMEFT effects enables strong bounds.

Projected bounds exceed LEP limits significantly.

Abstract

We study the production of Higgs bosons at high transverse momenta via vector-boson fusion (VBF) in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). We find that contributions from four independent operator combinations dominate in this limit. These are the same `high energy primaries' that control high energy diboson processes, including Higgs-strahlung. We perform detailed collider simulations for the diphoton decay mode of the Higgs boson as well as the three final states arising from the ditau channel. Using the quadratic growth of the SMEFT contributions relative to the Standard Model (SM) contribution, we project very stringent bounds on these operators that far surpass the corresponding bounds from the LEP experiment.