CMS-PAS-HIG-18-017

CMS-PAS-HIG-18-017
Search for lepton flavour violating decays of neutral heavy Higgs boson to $\mu\tau$ and e $\tau$ in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV
CMS Collaboration
May 2019

Abstract: A search for lepton flavor violating decays of a neutral heavy Higgs boson in the $\mu\tau$ and e $\tau$ decay modes is presented. The search is based on a dataset of 35.9 fb $^{-1}$ proton-proton collisions collected with the CMS detector in 2016, at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV. The tau leptons are reconstructed in the leptonic and hadronic decay modes. No signal is observed. The observed (expected) limits on the cross section times the branching fraction of a Higgs boson of mass in the range 200-900 GeV, decaying to $\mu\tau$ and e $\tau$ vary from 51.9 (57.4) fb to 1.6 (2.1) fb and from 94.1 (91.6) fb to 2.3 (2.3) fb, respectively.
Links: CDS record (PDF) ; CADI line (restricted) ; These preliminary results are superseded in this paper, JHEP 03 (2020) 103. The superseded preliminary plots can be found here.

Figures & Tables	Summary	References	CMS Publications

Figures
png pdf	Figure 1: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the ${{\mathrm {t}\overline {\mathrm {t}}}}$ enriched (top left), like-sign lepton (top right), and W+jets enriched (bottom) control samples defined in the text. The distributions include both statistical and systematic uncertainties.
png pdf	Figure 1-a: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the ${{\mathrm {t}\overline {\mathrm {t}}}}$ enriched control sample defined in the text. The distribution includes both statistical and systematic uncertainties.
png pdf	Figure 1-b: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the like-sign lepton control sample defined in the text. The distribution includes both statistical and systematic uncertainties.
png pdf	Figure 1-c: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the W+jets enriched control sample defined in the text. The distribution includes both statistical and systematic uncertainties.
png pdf	Figure 2: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_h$ (top) and ${{\mu}} {\tau}_ {\mathrm {e}}$ (bottom) channels for the Higgs mass in the range 200-450 GeV for 0-jet (left) and 1-jet (right) categories.
png pdf	Figure 2-a: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_h$ channel for the Higgs mass in the range 200-450 GeV for the 0-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 2-b: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_h$ channel for the Higgs mass in the range 200-450 GeV for the 1-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 2-c: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_ {\mathrm {e}}$ channel for the Higgs mass in the range 200-450 GeV for the 0-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 2-d: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_ {\mathrm {e}}$ channel for the Higgs mass in the range 200-450 GeV for the 1-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 3: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_h$ (top) and ${{\mu}} {\tau}_ {\mathrm {e}}$ (bottom) channels for the Higgs mass in the range 450-900 GeV for 0-jet (left) and 1-jet (right) categories.
png pdf	Figure 3-a: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_h$ channel for the Higgs mass in the range 450-900 GeV for the 0-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 3-b: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_h$ channel for the Higgs mass in the range 450-900 GeV for the 1-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 3-c: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_ {\mathrm {e}}$ channel for the Higgs mass in the range 450-900 GeV for the 0-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 3-d: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_ {\mathrm {e}}$ channel for the Higgs mass in the range 450-900 GeV for the 1-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 4: The observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {{\mu}} {\tau})$ , for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_h$ (top) and ${{\mu}} {\tau}_ {\mathrm {e}}$ (bottom) channels, for 0-jet (left) and 1-jet (right) categories.
png pdf	Figure 4-a: The observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {{\mu}} {\tau})$ , for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_h$ channel, for the 0-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 4-b: The observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {{\mu}} {\tau})$ , for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_h$ channel, for the 1-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 4-c: The observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {{\mu}} {\tau})$ , for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_ {\mathrm {e}}$ channel, for the 0-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 4-d: The observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {{\mu}} {\tau})$ , for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_ {\mathrm {e}}$ channel, for the 1-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 5: The combined observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {{\mu}} {\tau})$ , for ${{\mu}} {\tau}_h$ (top left) and ${{\mu}} {\tau}_ {\mathrm {e}}$ (top right) channels, and their combination ${{\mu}} {\tau}$ (bottom)
png pdf	Figure 5-a: The combined observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {{\mu}} {\tau})$ , for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_h$ channel.
png pdf	Figure 5-b: The combined observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {{\mu}} {\tau})$ , for the ${{\mu}} {\tau}_ {\mathrm {e}}$ channel.
png pdf	Figure 5-c: The combined observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {{\mu}} {\tau})$ , for the combination of ${{\mu}} {\tau}_h$ and ${{\mu}} {\tau}_ {\mathrm {e}}$ channels.
png pdf	Figure 6: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_h$ (top) and ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_ {{\mu}}$ (bottom) channels for the Higgs mass in the range 200-450 GeV for 0-jet (left) and 1-jet (right) categories.
png pdf	Figure 6-a: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_h$ channelsfor the Higgs mass in the range 200-450 GeV for the 0-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 6-b: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_h$ channelsfor the Higgs mass in the range 200-450 GeV for the 1-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 6-c: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_ {{\mu}}$ channelsfor the Higgs mass in the range 200-450 GeV for the 0-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 6-d: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_ {{\mu}}$ channelsfor the Higgs mass in the range 200-450 GeV for the 1-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 7: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_h$ (top) and ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_ {{\mu}}$ (bottom) channels for the Higgs mass in the range 450-900 GeV for 0-jet (left) and 1-jet (right) categories.
png pdf	Figure 7-a: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_h$ channel for the Higgs mass in the range 450-900 GeV for the 0-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 7-b: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_h$ channel for the Higgs mass in the range 450-900 GeV for the 1-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 7-c: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_ {{\mu}}$ channel for the Higgs mass in the range 450-900 GeV for the 0-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 7-d: The ${M_{\text {col}}}$ distribution in the signal region, for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_ {{\mu}}$ channel for the Higgs mass in the range 450-900 GeV for the 1-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 8: The observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {\mathrm {e}} {\tau})$ , for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_h$ (top) and ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_ {{\mu}}$ (bottom) channels, for 0-jet (left) and 1-jet (right) categories.
png pdf	Figure 8-a: The observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {\mathrm {e}} {\tau})$ , for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_h$ channel, for the 0-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 8-b: The observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {\mathrm {e}} {\tau})$ , for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_h$ channel, for the 1-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 8-c: The observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {\mathrm {e}} {\tau})$ , for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_ {{\mu}}$ channel, for the 0-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 8-d: The observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {\mathrm {e}} {\tau})$ , for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_ {{\mu}}$ channel, for the 1-jet category.
png pdf	Figure 9: The combined observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {\mathrm {e}} {\tau})$ , for ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_h$ (top left) and ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_ {{\mu}}$ (top right) channels, and their combination ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}$ (bottom).
png pdf	Figure 9-a: The combined observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {\mathrm {e}} {\tau})$ , for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_h$ channel.
png pdf	Figure 9-b: The combined observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {\mathrm {e}} {\tau})$ , for the ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_ {{\mu}}$ channel.
png pdf	Figure 9-c: The combined observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {\mathrm {e}} {\tau})$ , for the combination of ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_h$ and ${\mathrm {e}} {\tau}_ {{\mu}}$ channels.

Tables
png pdf	Table 1: Preliminary selection criteria applied to the kinematic variables for the ${{\mathrm {H}} \to {{\mu}} {\tau}}$ and ${{\mathrm {H}} \to {\mathrm {e}} {\tau}}$ analyses. The selected sample is used in the data-driven background estimation.
png pdf	Table 2: Final event selection criteria for the low mass range, 200 $< m_{{\mathrm {H}}} <$ 450 GeV, and the high mass range, 450 $< m_{{\mathrm {H}}} <$ 900 GeV, investigated in the ${{\mathrm {H}} \to {{\mu}} {\tau}}$ and ${{\mathrm {H}} \to {\mathrm {e}} {\tau}}$ analyses.
png pdf	Table 3: The systematic uncertainties for the four channels. All uncertainties are treated as correlated between the categories, except those with two or more values separated by the $\oplus$ symbol. In the case of two values, the first value is the correlated uncertainty and the second value is the uncorrelated uncertainty for each individual category. In the case of three values, the first and second values correspond to uncertainties arising from QCD scale and PDF variations while the third value is the uncorrelated uncertainty for each individual category. Two values separated by the - sign represent the range of the uncertainties from the different sources and/or in the different jet categories.
png pdf	Table 4: Theoretical uncertainties applied to the Higgs boson production cross sections for the different masses.
png pdf	Table 5: The observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {{\mu}} {\tau})$ .
png pdf	Table 6: The observed and median expected 95% limits on $\sigma (gg\rightarrow {\mathrm {H}})\times B({\mathrm {H}} \rightarrow {\mathrm {e}} {\tau})$ .

Summary

This note presents the first direct search for LFV decays of a heavy neutral Higgs boson in the

$\mu\tau$ and e

$\tau$ channels. The dataset analyzed corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb

$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data recorded at

$\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV. The results are extracted by a fit to

${M_{\text{col}}}$ distributions. No evidence is found for lepton flavor violating decays of a heavy Higgs boson in the investigated mass range. The observed (expected) limits on the cross section times the branching fraction of a heavy Higgs boson of mass in the range 200-900 GeV, decaying to

$\mu\tau$ and e

$\tau$ vary from 51.9 (57.4) fb to 1.6 (2.1) fb and from 97.4 (91.6) fb to 2.3 (2.3) fb respectively.

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