Search for Higgs and Z boson decays to J/ψ or Y pairs in the four-muon final state in proton-proton collisions at s=13TeV

Abstract

A search for decays of the Higgs and Z boson to pairs of J/ψ or Y(nS) (n = 1, 2, 3) mesons, with their subsequent decay to μμ pairs, is presented. The analysis uses data from proton-proton collisions at s=13TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2017 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 37.5fb. While an observation of such a decay with this sample would indicate the presence of physics beyond the standard model, no significant excess is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are placed on the branching fractions of these decays. In the J/ψ pair channel, the limits are 1.8×10 and 2.2×10 for the Higgs and Z boson, respectively, while in the combined Y(nS) pair channel, the limits are 1.4×10 and 1.5×10, respectively, when the mesons from the Higgs and Z boson decay are assumed to be unpolarized. When fully longitudinal and transverse polarizations are considered the limits reduce by about 22–29% and increase by about 10–13%, respectively. ; Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie program and the European Research Council and Horizon 2020 Grant, contract Nos. 675440, 752730, and 765710 (European Union); the Leventis Foundation; the A.P. Sloan Foundation; the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office; the Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture (FRIA-Belgium); the Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie (IWT-Belgium); the F.R.S.-FNRS and FWO (Belgium) under the "Excellence of Science – EOS" – be.h project n. 30820817; the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, No. Z181100004218003; the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) of the Czech Republic; the Lendület ("Momentum") Program and the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the New National Excellence Program ÚNKP, the NKFIA research grants 123842, 123959, 124845, 124850, 125105, 128713, 128786, and 129058 (Hungary); the Council of Science and Industrial Research, India; the HOMING PLUS program of the Foundation for Polish Science, cofinanced from European Union, European Regional Development Fund, the Mobility Plus program of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the National Science Center (Poland), contracts Harmonia 2014/14/M/ST2/00428, Opus 2014/13/B/ST2/02543, 2014/15/B/ST2/03998, and 2015/19/B/ST2/02861, Sonata-bis 2012/07/E/ST2/01406; the National Priorities Research Program by Qatar National Research Fund; the Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia María de Maeztu, grant MDM-2015-0509 and the Programa Severo Ochoa del Principado de Asturias; the Thalis and Aristeia programs cofinanced by EU-ESF and the Greek NSRF; the Rachadapisek Sompot Fund for Postdoctoral Fellowship, Chulalongkorn University and the Chulalongkorn Academic into Its 2nd Century Project Advancement Project (Thailand); the Welch Foundation, contract C-1845; and the Weston Havens Foundation (USA).