Most comprehensive study yet of the Higgs boson at CMS
The largest combined study of Higgs boson production and decay to date using data from the CMS experiment finds no significant deviations from theory The post Most comprehensive study yet of the Higgs boson at CMS appeared first on Physics World .
In a landmark study, researchers have conducted the most thorough examination yet of the Higgs boson using data from the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The Higgs boson, an elusive particle associated with the Higgs field that imbues other particles with mass, was first predicted in the 1960s but not discovered until 2012.
Since its detection, scientists have sought to determine if the Higgs behaves exactly as predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics or exhibits signs of physics beyond the Standard Model.
The CMS team combined measurements from proton-proton collisions recorded between 2016 and 2018, a vast dataset totaling 138 fb-1 of data – an extensive sample of collisions for performing precise measurements of the Higgs boson. They analyzed various decay channels, including those resulting in photons, bosons, and leptons, and searched for elusive "invisible" Higgs decays involving undetectable particles like potential dark matter candidates.
Additionally, they investigated rare off-shell Higgs production, where the Higgs is generated as a virtual state with a mass distinct from its physical mass.
Despite the rarity of Higgs boson production events, the researchers found that the current experimental precision confirms the Higgs boson's behavior as predicted by the Standard Model. The overall signal strength of the Higgs boson was measured at 1.01 ± 0.05, indicating a perfect match with theoretical expectations and no deviation from the Standard Model.
This comprehensive study significantly constrains many proposed theories of new physics, providing strong evidence that the Standard Model remains accurate in describing the Higgs boson's properties.
By narrowing the range of possible deviations from the Standard Model, this research offers valuable guidance for future searches at the Large Hadron Collider and other particle physics experiments. Dr. Jonathon Langford of Imperial College London, a lead analyst on the study, remarked on the remarkable progress made in just a decade since the Higgs boson's discovery, emphasizing the precision of measuring the Higgs boson production rate at the LHC at 5% and validating theoretical understandings of mass in the universe.
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