2026/05/18 by CMS Collaboration · 1 voice
Physics and Astronomy · #hep-ex
A search for Higgs boson (H) decays into a pair of neutral scalars φ1 and φ2, with φ2 heavier than φ1, is performed in final states with b quarks and tau leptons. Depending on the masses of the neutral scalars, φ2 can undergo a cascade decay into φ1φ1. For both the cascade and non-cascade scenarios, one φ1 is required to decay to a pair of tau leptons. Proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb-1 collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at √(s) = 13 TeV are analyzed. No statistically significant excess over the standard model expectation is observed. Upper limits are set on the products σB(H → φ1φ2 → 3φ1 → 2τ4b) and σB(H → φ1φ2) B(φ1 → 2τ) B(φ2 → 2b) where σ is the Higgs boson production cross section. The observed upper limits range between 0.9 and 36.8 pb at 95% confidence level, depending on the mass hypothesis and decay scenario.