New Discovery Modes for a Light Charged Higgs Boson at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper proposes new LHC search strategies for light charged Higgs bosons via pair production channels in 2HDM models, focusing on bosonic decays that could enhance detection prospects compared to traditional methods.

Contribution

It introduces novel pair production and decay channels for light charged Higgs bosons in 2HDM models, with specific benchmark points for experimental searches at the LHC.

Findings

Di-Higgs production channels can yield higher event rates than traditional top decay channels.

Bosonic decays like H±→W±h/A significantly enhance detection prospects.

16 benchmark points are proposed for experimental validation.

Abstract

At the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), both the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations have been searching for light charged Higgs bosons via top (anti)quark production and decays channels, like $pp\to t \bar{t}$ with one top (anti)quark decaying into a charged Higgs boson and a $b$ (anti)quark, when the decay is kinematically open (i.e., when $m_{H^\pm}\lesssim m_t$). In this paper, we propose new searches at the LHC involving light charged Higgs bosons via their pair production channels like $pp\to H^\pm h/A$ and $pp\to H^+ H^-$ in the 2-Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM) Type-I and -X scenarios. By focusing on the case where the heavy $H$ state plays the role of the Standard Model (SM)-like Higgs boson with a mass near 125 GeV, we study the aforementioned Higgs boson pair production channels and investigate their bosonic decays, such as $H^\pm \to W^{\pm } h$ and/or $H^\pm \to W^{\pm } A$. We demonstrate that for a light charged Higgs boson state, with $m_{H^\pm}\lesssim m_t$, at the LHC, such di-Higgs production and decay channels can give rise to signatures with event rates much larger than those emerging from $pp\to t\bar{t}\to t\bar{b} H^-$ + c.c.. We specifically study $h/A\to b\bar b$ and $\tau^+\tau^-$ decays. We, therefore, claim that the discussed combination of new production and decay modes can result in an alternative discovery channel for charged Higgs bosons lighter than the top (anti)quark at the LHC within the above two 2HDM Types. Finally, in order to motivate experimentalists in ATLAS and CMS to search for such signatures, we propose 16 Benchmark Points (BPs) which are compatible with both theoretical and experimental constraints.