Novel Higgs decay signals in R-parity violating models

Abstract

In supersymmetric models the lightest Higgs boson may decay with a sizable branching ratio into a pair of light neutralinos. We analyze such decays within the context of the minimal supersymmetric standard model with R-parity violation, where the neutralino itself is unstable and decays into Standard Model fermions. We show that the R-parity violating couplings induce novel Higgs decay signals that might facilitate the discovery of the Higgs boson at colliders. At the LHC, the Higgs may be observed, for instance, through its decay -via two neutralinos- into final states containing missing energy and isolated charged leptons such as $l^\pm l^\mp, l^\pm l^\pm, 3l$, and $4l$. Another promising possibility is the search for the displaced vertices associated with the neutralino decay. We also point out that Higgs searches at the LHC might additionally provide the first evidence of R-parity violation.