Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2504.12161

Search for an exotic decay of the 125 GeV Higgs boson to a pair of light pseudoscalars in the final state of two muons and two c-quarks in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13\;\text{TeV}$ with CMS Open Data

Danyer Perez Adan
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

A search is performed for pairs of light pseudoscalar bosons (a) produced from decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson ($\text{h}_{125}$). The analysis is based on publicly available data collected in 2016 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The amount of data analyzed corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 16.4 $\text{fb}^{-1}$. The analysis explores for the first time at the LHC the final state exhibiting two muons and two c-quarks, which originate from flavor-asymmetric decays of the pseudoscalar pair. The search probes the pseudoscalar boson mass interval comprised between 4 and 11 GeV, which represents a region where the light bosons exhibit a considerable Lorentz boost, and thus their decay products overlap. No significant deviation from the standard model expectation is observed. Model-independent upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of the cross section and branching fraction for the ${\text{h}_{125} \rightarrow \text{a}\text{a} \rightarrow μ^{-}μ^{+} c\bar{c}}$ process relative to the standard model Higgs boson production cross section, reaching a minimum value close to $3.3 \times 10^{-4}$. The results are interpreted in the context of two Higgs doublets plus singlet models and compared to existing experimental results covering other decay channels. The exclusion limits obtained by this search improve the current constraints set by various LHC searches in scenarios where the coupling of the light boson to up-type quarks is enhanced.

Explore related subjects

hep-ex

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Danyer Perez Adan. 2025-09-12. Search for an exotic decay of the 125 GeV Higgs boson to a pair of light pseudoscalars in the final state of two muons and two c-quarks in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13\;\text{TeV}$ with CMS Open Data. https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep09(2025)096

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Charge-dependent atmospheric muon flux at 17 GV geomagnetic cutoff with the mini-ICAL detector

The Iron CALorimeter (ICAL) detector at the India-Based Neutrino Observatory (INO) was conceived as an underground experiment designed to measure atmospheric neutrino oscillation parameters. As part of the R\&D programme, a scaled prototype (mini-ICAL), 85\,ton, approximately 1/600$^{\mathrm{th}}$ the mass of the full detector, was constructed at the IICHEP Transit Campus, Madurai (altitude 150\,m; latitude 9.9372$^\circ$\,N; longitude 78.013$^\circ$\,E; geomagnetic latitude 1.44$^\circ$\,N; vertical cutoff rigidity 17\,GV) and operated between 2018 and 2022. The prototype enabled measurements of charge-dependent cosmic muon spectra in the vicinity of the geomagnetic equator and provided an important validation of detector performance, reconstruction algorithms, and simulation frameworks for the ICAL experiment. Differential fluxes of $μ^{-}$ and $μ^{+}$ were measured over the momentum range $\sim$\,1--5\,GeV/c. The obtained momentum spectra are systematically lower than those reported at sites with smaller geomagnetic cutoff rigidities, consistent with the suppression of low- and intermediate-rigidity primary cosmic rays at the 17\,GV cutoff. The measurements are compared with predictions from different hadronic interaction models available in CORSIKA simulations.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2026

Laboratory constraints on peV-scale mass splitting between ordinary and sterile neutron states

Sterile states of matter, represented by a parallel ``mirror'' sector, may contribute to the observed dark matter in the Universe. We investigated the parameter space of neutron $(n)$ to mirror-neutron $(n')$ oscillations, in the case where the two states are not necessarily mass-degenerate, taking into account interactions in the mirror sector. By tuning the magnitude of an applied magnetic-field in the range $5~μ\mathrm{T} < B < 360~μ\mathrm{T}$ to corresponding resonance conditions for finite mass splitting, we derive exclusion limits for the $n-n'$ oscillation time constant reaching about $20~\text{s}$ over the mass-difference range $0.3 - 22~\text{peV}$. In parts of this parameter range, our limits exceed the model-dependent neutron-star-cooling bound, providing the first experimental constraints in this scenario that are more stringent than this astrophysical estimate.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2026

Search for the $^{16}\text{O}(ppp) \rightarrow ^{13}\text{C} π^+ π^+ e^+$ Decay Mode in Super-Kamiokande Using Machine Learning Techniques

We report a new partial lifetime limit of $4.2 \times 10^{32}$ years for the trinucleon decay mode $^{16}\text{O}(ppp) \rightarrow ^{13}\text{C} π^+ π^+ e^+$, obtained from a search conducted using the Super-Kamiokande detector with 0.401 megaton-years of exposure across five operational periods (SK-I: 1996--2001, SK-II: 2002--2005, SK-III: 2006--2008, SK-IV: 2008--2018, SK-V: 2019--2020). This represents an improvement of six orders of magnitude over previous experimental constraints. The analysis utilizes a convolutional neural network (CNN) incorporating an attention mechanism---a computational technique that enables the model to focus on the most relevant regions of Cherenkov ring patterns---to enhance event classification, thereby improving the sensitivity of the search. This is the first application of a CNN to a nucleon decay search in Super-Kamiokande. Furthermore, the large dataset available in Super-Kamiokande (hereafter "SK") strengthens the statistical power of the study, enabling a more stringent constraint than those set by prior experiments.

hep-ex↗