Search for a CP-odd Higgs boson decaying into a heavy CP-even Higgs boson and a Z boson in the ℓ+ℓ−tt¯ and νν¯bb¯ final states using 140 fb⁻¹ of data collected with the ATLAS detector

Abstract

Abstract A search for a heavy CP-odd Higgs boson, A, decaying into a Z boson and a heavy CP-even Higgs boson, H, is presented. It uses the full LHC Run 2 dataset of pp collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s

= 13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1. The search for A → ZH is performed in the $$ {\ell}^{+}{\ell}^{-}t\overline{t} $$

ℓ +

ℓ −

t

t ¯

and $$ \nu \overline{\nu}b\overline{b} $$ ν

ν ¯

b

b ¯

final states and surpasses the reach of previous searches in different final states in the region with mH > 350 GeV and mA > 800 GeV. No significant deviation from the Standard Model expectation is found. Upper limits are placed on the production cross-section times the decay branching ratios. Limits with less model dependence are also presented as functions of the reconstructed m($$ t\overline{t} $$ t

t ¯

) and m($$ b\overline{b} $$ b

b ¯

) distributions in the $$ {\ell}^{+}{\ell}^{-}t\overline{t} $$

ℓ +

ℓ −

t

t ¯

and $$ \nu \overline{\nu}b\overline{b} $$ ν

ν ¯

b

b ¯

channels, respectively. In addition, the results are interpreted in the context of two-Higgs-doublet models.