A search for light Higgs bosons in supersymmetric decay cascades with the CMS detector

Abstract

This thesis presents a search for pairs of light Higgs bosons produced in supersymmetric decay cascades. The final state targeted is that where both Higgs bosons decay into bb pairs. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data recorded with the CMS detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The full data sets from 2016 and 2017 are used, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 35.9 fb^-1 and 41.5 fb^-1, respectively.

The signal model exists within the framework of the Next-to Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. It is of interest because, under certain mass configurations, the missing transverse energy in the events can be highly suppressed. This produces an all jet final state for which more conventional supersymmetry searches would have reduced sensitivity.

Date of Award	1 Oct 2019
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Bristol
Supervisor	Jim J Brooke (Supervisor) & Henning U Flaecher (Supervisor)