Search for Higgs boson decays into a pair of pseudoscalar particles in the γγτhadτhad final state using pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration

doi:10.1007/JHEP03(2025)190

Search for Higgs boson decays into a pair of pseudoscalar particles in the γγτ_hadτ_had final state using pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration

iThemba Labs
Department of Physics
University of South Africa
University of Zululand
Cadi Ayyad University
Departamento de Física Teórica y del Cosmos
University of Granada
CERN
Aix-Marseille Université
University of Bergen
University of Oklahoma
New York University Abu Dhabi
University of Göttingen
TU Dortmund University
United States Department of Energy
Southern Methodist University
Mohammed V University in Rabat
Tel Aviv University
New York University
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics
King's College London
Heidelberg University
Université Savoie Mont Blanc
AGH University of Science and Technology
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
University of Manchester
Northern Illinois University
Istanbul University
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
University of California at Santa Cruz
The University of Chicago
Institute for High Energy Physics
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences
Royal Holloway University of London
Zhengzhou University
University of Rome Tor Vergata
University of Valencia
University of Hassan II Casablanca
Lund University
Stony Brook University
Waseda University
University of Bonn
Bogazici University
University of Victoria BC
Université Grenoble Alpes
University of Edinburgh
Oklahoma State University
Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering
National Technical University of Athens
University of Geneva
University of Warwick
Czech Technical University in Prague
Lancaster University
Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University
California State University Fresno
University of Liverpool
University of Johannesburg
Université Paris-Saclay
University of Sussex
University of Birmingham
University of Naples Federico II
Universidad Nacional de La Plata
University of Washington
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
McGill University
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Freiburg
University of Toronto
Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Tsukuba
University of Oslo
University of Sheffield
University of Texas at Austin
University of Glasgow
University of Milan
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Columbia University
The University of Tokyo
German Electron Synchrotron
Brandeis University
Cracow
Duke University
University of Montreal
University of Rome La Sapienza
Nagoya University
Ochanomizu University
Comenius University
University of California at Irvine
University of Cape Town
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University
University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences
Université Clermont Auvergne
TRIUMF
Slovak Academy of Sciences
University of Thessaly
Carleton University
Technische Universität Dresden
Humboldt University of Berlin
University of Oregon
Queen Mary University of London
Yale University
University of Belgrade
University of Texas at Arlington
University of Bologna
University of Cambridge
United Arab Emirates University
University of Pittsburgh
University of Melbourne
University of Genoa
University of Amsterdam
Max Planck Institute for Physics (Werner Heisenberg Institute)
Palacký University Olomouc
University of Science and Technology of China
University of Oxford
University College London
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
CAS - Institute of High Energy Physics
An-Najah National University
University of British Columbia
University of Innsbruck
Universidad de Buenos Aires
Sorbonne Université
Tufts University
University of Bern
University of Fribourg
Istinye University
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Harvard University
Uppsala University
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
CNRS
Charles University
University of Würzburg
University of Wuppertal
Gaziantep University
Weizmann Institute of Science
University of Calabria
University of Siegen
Ohio State University
University of Massachusetts
University of Trento
Michigan State University
Indiana University Bloomington
York University Toronto
Stockholm University
Oskar Klein Centre
University of Illinois
Simon Fraser University
Boston University
Justus Liebig University Giessen
Nanjing University
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ankara University
University of Copenhagen
Westmont College
Radboud University Nijmegen
Universidad Técnica Federico Santa Maria
Autonomous University of Barcelona
University of Minho
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora
University of Pisa
Tbilisi State University
Argonne National Laboratory
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Kyoto University
Tsinghua University
The Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter (CICQM)
University of Wisconsin
Chinese University of Hong Kong
University of Arizona
National Tsing Hua University
Sofia University
Czech Academy of Sciences
University of Ljubljana
University of Udine
University of Lisbon
University of Naples Parthenope
Institute of Particle Physics
Academia Sinica - Institute of Physics
University of Salento
Abant Izzet Baysal University
Roma Tre University
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Millennium Institute for Subatomic physics at high energy frontier (SAPHIR)
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
University of Bucharest
Universidade Federal da Bahia
Ibn Tofail University
The University of Hong Kong
Louisiana Tech University
Shandong University
IMB-CNM. CSIC
University of Adelaide
University of Coimbra
City University of New York
National Institute of Physics, College of Science, University of the Philippines, Diliman
University of the Aegean
University of Sharjah
University of New Mexico
Demokritos National Centre for Scientific Research
Jagiellonian University in Kraków
University of Alberta
The University of Georgia, Tbilisi
West University of Timisoara
ICREA
Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University)
Henan University
A. Alikhanian Yerevan Institute of Physics
Shinshu University
Technical University of Munich
Osaka University
University of Tsukuba
University Politehnica of Bucharest
Azerbaijan State University of Economics
Universidade de São Paulo
Universidad de La Serena
University of Pavia
Yeditepe University
Georgian National Academy of Sciences
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Universidad de Tarapacá
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
University of the Witwatersrand
Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation (CIRI-AUTH)
Iowa State University
Universidad Andrés Bello
Kobe University
University of the Western Cape
Hellenic Open University
Peking University
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Stellenbosch University
University of Iowa
Kyushu University
California State University Sacramento
Mohamed I University
University of Colorado Boulder
Universidad Antonio Nariño
University of Sydney
University of Hamburg
Transilvania University of Brasov
National Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Washington College
University of West Attica
TOBB University of Economics and Technology
Stanford University
Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Tokyo Metropolitan University
University of California at Berkeley

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

A search for exotic decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson into a pair of new spin-0 particles, H → aa, where one decays into a photon pair and the other into a τ-lepton pair, is presented. Hadronic decays of the τ-leptons are considered and reconstructed using a dedicated tagger for collimated τ-lepton pairs. The search uses 140 fb⁻¹ of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of s = 13 TeV recorded between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is performed in the mass range of the a boson between 10 GeV and 60 GeV. No significant excess of events is observed above the Standard Model background expectation. Model-independent upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to the γγττ final state, B(H → aa → γγττ), ranging from 0.2% to 2%, depending on the a-boson mass hypothesis.

Original language	English
Article number	190
Journal	Journal of High Energy Physics
Volume	2025
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP03(2025)190
Publication status	Published - Mar 2025

Keywords

Hadron-Hadron Scattering

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Access to Document

10.1007/JHEP03(2025)190

Cite this

@article{36da536ab4204cacbe12f43605803869,

title = "Search for Higgs boson decays into a pair of pseudoscalar particles in the γγτhadτhad final state using pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector",

abstract = "A search for exotic decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson into a pair of new spin-0 particles, H → aa, where one decays into a photon pair and the other into a τ-lepton pair, is presented. Hadronic decays of the τ-leptons are considered and reconstructed using a dedicated tagger for collimated τ-lepton pairs. The search uses 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of s = 13 TeV recorded between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is performed in the mass range of the a boson between 10 GeV and 60 GeV. No significant excess of events is observed above the Standard Model background expectation. Model-independent upper limits at 95\% confidence level are set on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to the γγττ final state, B(H → aa → γγττ), ranging from 0.2\% to 2\%, depending on the a-boson mass hypothesis.",

keywords = "Hadron-Hadron Scattering",

author = "\{The ATLAS collaboration\} and G. Aad and E. Aakvaag and B. Abbott and S. Abdelhameed and K. Abeling and Abicht, \{N. J.\} and Abidi, \{S. H.\} and M. Aboelela and A. Aboulhorma and H. Abramowicz and Y. Abulaiti and Acharya, \{B. S.\} and A. Ackermann and \{Adam Bourdarios\}, C. and L. Adamczyk and Addepalli, \{S. V.\} and Addison, \{M. J.\} and J. Adelman and A. Adiguzel and T. Adye and Affolder, \{A. A.\} and Y. Afik and Agaras, \{M. N.\} and A. Aggarwal and C. Agheorghiesei and F. Ahmadov and S. Ahuja and X. Ai and G. Aielli and A. Aikot and \{Ait Tamlihat\}, M. and B. Aitbenchikh and M. Akbiyik and {\AA}kesson, \{T. P.A.\} and Akimov, \{A. V.\} and D. Akiyama and Akolkar, \{N. N.\} and S. Aktas and Alberghi, \{G. L.\} and J. Albert and P. Albicocco and Albouy, \{G. L.\} and S. Alderweireldt and Alegria, \{Z. L.\} and M. Aleksa and Aleksandrov, \{I. N.\} and Connell, \{S. H.\} and Gololo, \{M. G.D.\} and N. Govender and L. Truong",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1007/JHEP03(2025)190",

language = "English",

volume = "2025",

journal = "Journal of High Energy Physics",

issn = "1126-6708",

publisher = "Springer Verlag",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Search for Higgs boson decays into a pair of pseudoscalar particles in the γγτhadτhad final state using pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

AU - The ATLAS collaboration

AU - Aad, G.

AU - Aakvaag, E.

AU - Abbott, B.

AU - Abdelhameed, S.

AU - Abeling, K.

AU - Abicht, N. J.

AU - Abidi, S. H.

AU - Aboelela, M.

AU - Aboulhorma, A.

AU - Abramowicz, H.

AU - Abulaiti, Y.

AU - Acharya, B. S.

AU - Ackermann, A.

AU - Adam Bourdarios, C.

AU - Adamczyk, L.

AU - Addepalli, S. V.

AU - Addison, M. J.

AU - Adelman, J.

AU - Adiguzel, A.

AU - Adye, T.

AU - Affolder, A. A.

AU - Afik, Y.

AU - Agaras, M. N.

AU - Aggarwal, A.

AU - Agheorghiesei, C.

AU - Ahmadov, F.

AU - Ahuja, S.

AU - Ai, X.

AU - Aielli, G.

AU - Aikot, A.

AU - Ait Tamlihat, M.

AU - Aitbenchikh, B.

AU - Akbiyik, M.

AU - Åkesson, T. P.A.

AU - Akimov, A. V.

AU - Akiyama, D.

AU - Akolkar, N. N.

AU - Aktas, S.

AU - Alberghi, G. L.

AU - Albert, J.

AU - Albicocco, P.

AU - Albouy, G. L.

AU - Alderweireldt, S.

AU - Alegria, Z. L.

AU - Aleksa, M.

AU - Aleksandrov, I. N.

AU - Connell, S. H.

AU - Gololo, M. G.D.

AU - Govender, N.

AU - Truong, L.

PY - 2025/3

Y1 - 2025/3

N2 - A search for exotic decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson into a pair of new spin-0 particles, H → aa, where one decays into a photon pair and the other into a τ-lepton pair, is presented. Hadronic decays of the τ-leptons are considered and reconstructed using a dedicated tagger for collimated τ-lepton pairs. The search uses 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of s = 13 TeV recorded between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is performed in the mass range of the a boson between 10 GeV and 60 GeV. No significant excess of events is observed above the Standard Model background expectation. Model-independent upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to the γγττ final state, B(H → aa → γγττ), ranging from 0.2% to 2%, depending on the a-boson mass hypothesis.

AB - A search for exotic decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson into a pair of new spin-0 particles, H → aa, where one decays into a photon pair and the other into a τ-lepton pair, is presented. Hadronic decays of the τ-leptons are considered and reconstructed using a dedicated tagger for collimated τ-lepton pairs. The search uses 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of s = 13 TeV recorded between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is performed in the mass range of the a boson between 10 GeV and 60 GeV. No significant excess of events is observed above the Standard Model background expectation. Model-independent upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to the γγττ final state, B(H → aa → γγττ), ranging from 0.2% to 2%, depending on the a-boson mass hypothesis.

KW - Hadron-Hadron Scattering

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105017174035

U2 - 10.1007/JHEP03(2025)190

DO - 10.1007/JHEP03(2025)190

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105017174035

SN - 1126-6708

VL - 2025

JO - Journal of High Energy Physics

JF - Journal of High Energy Physics

IS - 3

M1 - 190

ER -