Search for low-mass dilepton resonances in Higgs boson decays to four-lepton final states in proton–proton collisions at $$\sqrt{s}=13\,\text {TeV} $$

Abstract

AbstractA search for low-mass dilepton resonances in Higgs boson decays is conducted in the four-lepton final state. The decay is assumed to proceed via a pair of beyond the standard model particles, or one such particle and a $${\mathrm{Z}}$$<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>Z</mml:mi> </mml:math> boson. The search uses proton–proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137$$\,\text {fb}^{-1}$$<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mspace/> <mml:msup> <mml:mtext>fb</mml:mtext> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math>, at a center-of-mass energy $$\sqrt{s} = 13\,\text {TeV} $$<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msqrt> <mml:mi>s</mml:mi> </mml:msqrt> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>13</mml:mn> <mml:mspace/> <mml:mtext>TeV</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:math>. No significant deviation from the standard model expectation is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on model-independent Higgs boson decay branching fractions. Additionally, limits on dark photon and axion-like particle production, based on two specific models, are reported.