LHC signals of a heavy CP-even Higgs boson in the NMSSM via decays into a Z and a light CP-odd Higgs state

Abstract

We study the Za 1 decay mode of a heavy CP-even Higgs boson of the NMSSM, h 2, where a 1 is the lightest CP-odd Higgs state of this scenario, the former Higgs state produced in association with a bottom-antibottom pair, and find that, despite small event rates, a significant (in fact essentially background free) signal should be extractable at the LHC with very high luminosity, so long as a Z→jj (where j represents a jet) and a 1→τ +τ - final state is exploited, in the presence of b tagging. © 2012 American Physical Society.