Search for Higgs bosons decaying into new spin-0 or spin-1 particles in four-lepton final states with the ATLAS detector with 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV

TL;DR

This paper searches for new light bosons in Higgs decays to four leptons using ATLAS data, setting limits on their production and properties, and finds results consistent with the Standard Model.

Contribution

It introduces a search for spin-0 and spin-1 bosons in Higgs decays to four leptons, improving previous limits and exploring dark sector extensions.

Findings

No significant excess observed over Standard Model expectations.

Set new upper limits on Higgs decay branching ratios to new bosons.

Constrained parameters of dark sector models.

Abstract

Searches are conducted for new spin-0 or spin-1 bosons using events where a Higgs boson with mass $125$ GeV decays into four leptons ($\ell =$ $e$,$\mu$). This decay is presumed to occur via an intermediate state which contains two on-shell, promptly decaying bosons: $H \rightarrow XX/ZX \rightarrow 4\ell$, where the new boson $X$ has a mass between 1 and 60 GeV. The search uses $pp$ collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. The data are found to be consistent with Standard Model expectations. Limits are set on fiducial cross sections and on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to decay into $XX/ZX$, improving those from previous publications by a factor between two and four. Limits are also set on mixing parameters relevant in extensions of the Standard Model containing a dark sector where $X$ is interpreted to be a dark boson.