![HEP2026: 42nd Conference on Recent Developments in High Energy Physics and Cosmology [NTUA] Jul 8 – 11, 2026](/event/1654737/logo-1929213524.png){kind=logo}
Speaker
Description
Many extensions of the Standard Model predict exotic Higgs boson decays into new light scalar or pseudo-scalar particles. This contribution presents a search for the decay H → XX → bbbb in the associated production mode (VH), using Run 3 proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The analysis targets final states containing four bottom quarks and, for the first time in CMS, simultaneously explores both the Z(ℓℓ)H and Z(νν)H associated production channels, where the leptonic and invisible decays of the Z boson provide efficient event triggering and complementary sensitivity.
Special emphasis is placed on the low-mass regime (mX < 30 GeV), where the two b quarks from each (X) boson are highly collimated and often reconstructed as a single jet. To enhance the sensitivity in this challenging topology, the analysis employs dedicated transformer-based double-b tagging algorithms, advanced jet substructure techniques, and multivariate signal discrimination. This search extends the CMS exotic Higgs program and improves sensitivity to light bosons in previously unexplored regions of parameter space.