Search for a new heavy scalar resonance decaying into the Higgs boson and a new scalar particle in the $\mathrm{b}\bar{\mathrm{b}}\mathrm{b}\bar{\mathrm{b}}$ final state using proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for a new heavy scalar decaying into a Higgs boson and another scalar, using 13 TeV proton-proton collision data, with no significant discovery but setting upper limits on production.

Contribution

First search for a heavy scalar decaying into a Higgs and a new scalar in the four bottom quark final state at 13 TeV with CMS data.

Findings

Largest local significance of 3.47 sigma at 600 and 400 GeV masses.

No significant deviation from background observed.

Upper limits set on production cross section times branching fraction.

Abstract

A search for a new heavy scalar resonance (X) decaying into the 125 GeV standard model Higgs boson (H) and a new scalar particle (Y) in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is presented. The analysis is performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ collected with the CMS detector during LHC Run 2. The $\mathrm{b}\bar{\mathrm{b}}\mathrm{b}\bar{\mathrm{b}}$ final state is used as a probe to search for phenomena beyond the standard model where, in the X $\to$ YH process, the Y and H each decay into a bottom quark-antiquark pair. A range of masses from 400 GeV to 1.6 TeV for the resonance X and from 60 GeV to 1.4 TeV for the scalar Y is investigated. The observations are in agreement with the background-only hypothesis. The largest excess, with a local (global) significance of 3.47 (2.44) standard deviations, is observed for hypothetical X and Y masses of 600 and 400 GeV, respectively. Upper limits at 95% confidence level on the production cross section times branching fraction are presented for signal mass hypotheses in the range of the search. Results are interpreted within the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model scenario.