2025/09/15 by Alexandre Alves, Alves, Alexandre, Eduardo da Silva Almeida +3
Physics and Astronomy · Computer Science · #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Computational Physics and Python Applications #Particle Detector Development and Performance
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2509.12450
Double Higgs production is challenging even at the High Luminosity LHC. The Standard Model (SM) hh→ bbWW(ZZ)→ bbℓℓνν has a moderate cross section compared to other decay modes, but its backgrounds, mainly top quark pairs and Drell-Yan production, are overwhelming. In this work, we propose new kinematic features designed to improve the discrimination of double Higgs pairs, in the bbℓℓνν channel, with cut-based and multivariate analyses. The new features are built with the neutrinos' momenta solutions obtained from imposing mass constraints when calculating Higgsness and Topness variables. For the SM hh production, we estimate a 3.7σ statistical significance from an optimized cut-based strategy, improving about 20% over the best estimates of the literature, and 5σ from a multivariate analysis if systematic uncertainties on the backgrounds are small. The new variables are constructed as ratios of kinematic functions of the particles' momenta, being less prone to systematic errors. We also demonstrate the usefulness of the solutions in reconstructing heavy scalar resonances and other variables of phenomenological importance.