English

Harnessing Higgs Kinematics for HEFT Constraints

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2025-06-25 v1 High Energy Physics - Experiment

Abstract

We present a momentum-dependent reweighting strategy to extend current LHC di-Higgs analyses within the κ\kappa-framework and SMEFT into the bosonic sector of the Higgs Effective Field Theory (HEFT). Unlike SMEFT, where symmetry constraints tightly correlate multi-Higgs processes, HEFT allows for a broader range of momentum-dependent deviations that can substantially impact di-Higgs kinematics and offer a powerful probe of non-linear Higgs dynamics. We generalise the interpretation of existing experimental analyses by integrating HEFT operators up to chiral dimension four into differential Monte Carlo reweighting. We quantify the sensitivity to representative HEFT operators using multi-dimensional likelihoods for Run 3 and project the reach at the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). Particular emphasis is placed on how different exclusive final states, such as bbˉbbˉb\bar{b}b\bar{b} and bbˉγγb\bar{b}\gamma\gamma, respond to momentum enhancements and how their complementary event selections drive exclusion limits. We further explore how rare final states, especially four-top production, can provide orthogonal constraints on HEFT-induced modifications, thereby enhancing global sensitivity to new physics effects in the Higgs sector.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2506.19401,
  title  = {Harnessing Higgs Kinematics for HEFT Constraints},
  author = {Christoph Englert and Tom Ingebretsen Carlson and Jörgen Sjölin and Michael Spannowsky},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.19401},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

17 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables

R2 v1 2026-07-01T03:31:06.423Z