Probing heavy scalars with an effective Hb\bar bg coupling at the LHC

Abstract

We have explored the prospect of probing a neutral scalar (H) produced in association with one b-quark and decaying either invisibly or into a pair of b-quarks at the LHC with centre of mass energy s√=14 TeV. In this regard, we adopt an effective theory approach to parameterize a Hbb¯g vertex arising from a dimension six operator that encompasses the effect of some new physics setting in at a high scale. We concentrate solely on the five-flavor scheme to ascertain the sensitivity of the 14 TeV LHC in probing such an effective coupling as a function of the scalar mass at the highest possible projected luminosity, 3000 fb−1. Through our multivariate analysis using machine learning algorithm we show that staying within the perturbative limit of the Wilson coefficient of the effective interaction, evidence with statistical significance of 3σ can be obtained in two different signal regions for mH≲2 TeV and the scale of new physics Λ=3 TeV.