Exotic Higgs Decay via Charged Higgs

The most common search channel for heavy neutral Higgses in models with an extension of the Standard Model Higgs sector is $A/H^0\rightarrow \tau\tau$, which becomes ineffective when new decay modes of $A/H^0$ open. In this paper, we analyzed two such channels involving charged Higgses in the final states: $A/H^0 \rightarrow W^\pm H^\mp$ and $H^0 \rightarrow H^+H^-$. With the consequent decay of $H^\pm\rightarrow \tau\nu$, we found that the limits for $\sigma\times{BR}(gg \rightarrow A/H^0 \rightarrow W^\pm H^\mp)\times {BR}(H^\pm \rightarrow \tau \nu)$ vary from 30 to 10 fb for $m_{A/H^0}$ between 300 and 1000 GeV for 95% C.L. exclusion, and about 80 to 30 fb for 5$\sigma$ discovery. For $H^+H^-$ mode, 95% C.L. limits on $\sigma\times {BR}(gg\to H^0\to H^+ H^-)\times {BR}^2(H^\pm\to \tau\nu)$ vary from 9 to 4 fb for $m_{H^0}$ between 400 and 1000 GeV, while the 5$\sigma$ reach is about 20 to 10 fb. We further interpret the cross section limits in the Type II 2HDM parameter space. While $A\rightarrow W^\pm H^\mp$ offers great sensitivity in both $\sin(\beta-\alpha)$ versus $\tan\beta$ and $m_A$ versus $\tan\beta$ parameter space, $H^0\rightarrow H^+ H^-$ can cover most of the parameter space for $H^0$. Reach in $H^0\rightarrow W^\pm H^\mp$ is more limited, especially for $m_{H^0}>2 m_{H^\pm}$. It is, however, complementary to $H^0\rightarrow H^+ H^-$ when ${BR}(H^0\rightarrow H^+ H^-)$ is accidentally suppressed.