Measurements of production cross sections of the Higgs boson in the four-lepton final state in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports precise measurements of Higgs boson production cross sections in the four-lepton decay channel at 13 TeV, confirming consistency with Standard Model predictions and providing insights into production mechanisms.

Contribution

First detailed measurement of Higgs production cross sections and signal strengths in the four-lepton channel at 13 TeV with high precision and differential analysis.

Findings

Measured signal strength modifier μ = 0.94 ± 0.07 (stat) +0.09/-0.08 (syst)

Inclusive fiducial cross section of 2.84 +0.23/-0.22 fb consistent with SM

Differential cross sections align with Standard Model predictions

Abstract

Production cross sections of the Higgs boson are measured in the H $\to$ ZZ $\to$ $4\ell$ ($\ell$ $=$ e, $\mu$) decay channel. A data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$ is used. The signal strength modifier $\mu$, defined as the ratio of the Higgs boson production rate in the $4\ell$ channel to the standard model (SM) expectation, is measured to be $\mu$ $=$ 0.94 $\pm$ 0.07 (stat) ${}^{+0.09}_{-0.08}$ (syst) at a fixed value of $m_\mathrm{H}$ $=$ 125.38 GeV. The signal strength modifiers for the individual Higgs boson production modes are also reported. The inclusive fiducial cross section for the H $\to$ $4\ell$ process is measured to be 2.84 $^{+0.23}_{-0.22}$ (stat) ${}^{+0.26}_{-0.21}$ (syst) fb, which is compatible with the SM prediction of 2.84 $\pm$ 0.15 fb for the same fiducial region. Differential cross sections as a function of the transverse momentum and rapidity of the Higgs boson, the number of associated jets, and the transverse momentum of the leading associated jet are measured. A new set of cross section measurements in mutually exclusive categories targeted to identify production mechanisms and kinematical features of the events is presented. The results are in agreement with the SM predictions.