Search for heavy scalar resonances decaying to Lorentz-boosted Higgs and Higgs-like bosons in the bb̅4q final state at √𝑠 = 13

Abstract

A search is performed for a heavy scalar resonance X decaying to a Higgs boson (H) and a Higgs-like scalar boson (Y) in the two bottom quark (H → bb̅) and four quark (Y → VV → 4q) final state, where V denotes a W or Z boson. Masses of the X between 900 and 4000 GeV and the Y between 60 and 2800 GeV are considered. The search is performed in data collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC from proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV center-of-mass energy, with a data set corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 138 fb⁻¹. It targets the Lorentz-boosted regime, in which the products of the H → bb̅ decay can be reconstructed as a single large-area jet, and those from the Y → VV → 4q decay as either one Y → 4q or two qq̄ → VV jets. Jet identification and mass reconstruction exploit machine-learning tools, including a novel attention-based “particle transformer” for Y → 4q identification. No significant excess is observed in the data above the standard model background expectation. Upper limits on the product of production cross section and branching fraction as low as 0.2 fb are derived at 95% confidence level for various mass hypotheses. This is the first search at the LHC for scalar resonances in the all-hadronic bb̅VV decay channel.