Searching for Heavier Higgs Boson via Di-Higgs Production at LHC Run-2

Abstract

The LHC discovery of a light Higgs particle $h^0$ (125GeV) opens up new prospect for searching heavier Higgs boson(s) at the LHC Run-2, which will unambiguously point to new physics beyond the standard model (SM). We study the detection of a heavier neutral Higgs boson $H^0$ via di-Higgs production channel at the LHC (14TeV), $H^0 \to h^0h^0 \to WW^*γγ$. This directly probes the $Hhh$ cubic Higgs interaction, which exists in most extensions of the SM Higgs sector. For the decay products of final states $WW^*$, we include both pure leptonic mode $WW^* \to \ell\barν\bar{\ell}ν$ and semi-leptonic mode $WW^* \to q\bar{q}'\ellν$. We analyze signals and backgrounds by performing fast detector simulation for the full processes $pp \to H \to hh \to WW^*γγ\to \ell\barν\bar{\ell}νγγ$ and $pp \to H \to hh \to WW^*γγ\to \ellνq\bar{q}'γγ$, over the mass range $M_H=250-600$GeV. For generic two-Higgs-doublet models (2HDM), we present the discovery reach of the heavier Higgs boson at the LHC Run-2, and compare it with the current Higgs global fit of the 2HDM parameter space.