Precision Higgs Boson Probe of Type-II Seesaw Models

TL;DR

This paper investigates how future high-precision measurements of the Higgs boson’s diphoton decay rate could indirectly detect parts of the type-II seesaw model parameter space that are currently unconstrained by direct collider searches.

Contribution

It demonstrates that subpercent-level precision in diphoton rate measurements can effectively probe otherwise elusive regions of the type-II seesaw model parameter space.

Findings

Future measurements can indirectly test challenging regions of the model.

Precision down to 0.7% significantly improves detection prospects.

Indirect probes complement direct search constraints.

Abstract

Despite direct searches at the LHC excluding tripletlike Higgs bosons up to several hundred GeV over much of the type-II seesaw model parameter space, parts of it -- most notably those featuring ``cascade decays'' of the charged Higgs bosons into their neutral partners and off-shell $W$ bosons -- still remain unconstrained. Meanwhile, measurements of the diphoton signal strength of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson -- potentially modified by loop contributions from tripletlike Higgs states -- are in good agreement with the SM expectation, with combined experimental uncertainties currently at approximately 8%. Given the trend in previous measurements, it is expected that future precision Higgs measurements at the HL-LHC and a future lepton collider such as the Circular Electron Positron Collider, Future Circular Collider, or Muon Collider will be consistent the standard diphoton signal strength, albeit with significantly reduced uncertainties, down to about 0.7%. Presuming this and considering all relevant constraints, we explore whether such increasingly precise diphoton measurements can indirectly probe the parameter space that currently evades direct searches. We find that subpercent-level determinations of the diphoton rate will decisively probe a substantial fraction of this otherwise elusive region.