Search for the Higgs boson decays to a ρ0, ϕ, or K⁎0 meson and a photon in proton-proton collisions at s=13TeV
Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics, vol.862, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Volume: 862
- Publication Date: 2025
- Doi Number: 10.1016/j.physletb.2025.139296
- Journal Name: Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
- Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Aerospace Database, Chemical Abstracts Core, INSPEC, zbMATH, Directory of Open Access Journals
- Keywords: CMS, Higgs, Rare decays
- Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
Three rare decay processes of the Higgs boson to a ρ(770)0, ϕ(1020), or K⁎(892)0 meson and a photon are searched for using s=13TeV proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. Events are selected assuming the mesons decay into a pair of charged pions, a pair of charged kaons, or a charged kaon and pion, respectively. Depending on the Higgs boson production mode, different triggering and reconstruction techniques are adopted. The analyzed data sets correspond to integrated luminosities up to 138fb−1, depending on the reconstructed final state. After combining various data sets and categories, no significant excess above the background expectations is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level on the Higgs boson branching fractions into ρ(770)0γ, ϕ(1020)γ, and K⁎(892)0γ are determined to be 3.7×10−4, 3.0×10−4, and 3.0×10−4, respectively. In case of the ρ(770)0γ and ϕ(1020)γ channels, these are the most stringent experimental limits to date.