Five-lepton and six-lepton signatures from production of neutral triplet scalars in the Higgs Triplet Model

الأصل · EN

The neutral triplet scalars (H⁰, A⁰) in the Higgs Triplet Model (HTM) are difficult to detect at the LHC for the case of mass degeneracy with the singly charged (H+) and doubly charged (H++) scalars. A non-zero value of a specific quartic coupling in the scalar potential removes this degeneracy, and positive values of this coupling would give rise to the mass hierarchy mₐ₀,ₕ₀ > mₕ₊ > mₕ₊₊. In this scenario the decays H⁰-> H+ W* and A⁰-> H+ W*, followed by H+ -> H⁺⁺ W*, can proceed with large branching ratios, even for small mass splittings among the triplet scalars. Such a cascade process would lead to production of H⁺⁺H⁻⁻ accompanied by several virtual W bosons, and would provide a way of observing H⁰ and A⁰ with a signature which is different from that of the conventional production process for doubly charged scalars, q qbar -> γ*, Z* -> H⁺⁺H⁻⁻. Assuming the decay H⁺⁺ to l+ l+, we quantify the magnitude of the five-lepton and six-lepton signals in these channels, which have essentially negligible backgrounds at the LHC.