Searching for double Higgs pair production in the HH to bbtautau channel at the ATLAS experiment

• Grant number: 23/16276-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2024
• End date: August 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Elementary Particle Physics and Fields
• Principal Investigator: Marco Aurelio Lisboa Leite
• Grantee: Hajar Imam
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física (IF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 20/04867-2 - High energy physics and instrumentation with the LHC-CERN, AP.ESP

Abstract

Despite the thorough investigation of the properties of the Higgs boson, a crucial property still to be assessed, and that can precisely confirm that the recently discovered boson with mass of 125 GeV is indeed the one predicted by the Standard Model, are the Higgs self-couplings. In the SM, the Higgs self-couplings are uniquely determined by the structure of the scalar potential, with the trilinear term (»HHH) being experimentally probed by the production of pairs of Higgs bosons (HH). The existence of an extended scalar sector or the presence of new dynamics at higher scales could modify the Higgs boson self couplings, a potential signal of new physics. Therefore, the assessment of the Higgs potential is a high priority goal on the physics program of the LHC and all future colliders, a measurement that will also benefit from the increased luminosity and extended coverage of ATLAS detector at HL-LHC, allowing the exploration of clear experimental signatures, such as the one encountered in Vector Boson Fusion production topology.