Probing the Goldstone equivalence theorem in Heavy Weak Doublet Decays

Abstract

This paper investigates the decays from heavy Higgsino-like weak doublets into Z, h bosons and missing particles. When pair-produced at the LHC, the subsequent Z, h→ℓℓ, bb¯ decays in the doublet decay cascade can yield 4ℓ, 2ℓ2b and 4b+E_T+j(s) final states. Mutual observation of any two of these channels would provide information on the associated doublets’ decay branching fractions into a Z or h, thereby probing the Goldstone equivalence relation, shedding additional light on the Higgs sector of beyond the Standard Model theories and facilitating the discrimination of various contending models, in turn. We compare the Z/h decay ratio expected in the minimal supersymmetric model, the next-to-minimal supersymmetric model (NMSSM)and a minimal singlet-doublet dark matter model. Additionally, we conduct a full Monte Carlo analysis of the prospects for detecting the targeted final states during 14 TeV running of the LHC in the context of a representative NMSSM benchmark model.