Search for Higgs boson pair production in the γγ bb final state in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract

A search is presented for the production of a pair of Higgs bosons, where one decays into two photons and the other one into a bottom quark–antiquark pair. The analysis is performed using proton–proton collision data at √s = 13 TeV recorded in 2016 by the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. The results are in agreement with standard model (SM) predictions. In a search for resonant production, upper limits are set on the cross section for new spin-0 or spin-2 particles. For the SM-like nonresonant production hypothesis, the data exclude a product of cross section and branching fraction larger than 2.0 fb at 95 confidence level (CL), corresponding to about 24 times the SM prediction. Values of the effective Higgs boson self-coupling κλ are constrained to be within the range −11 < κλ < 17 at 95% CL, assuming all other Higgs boson couplings are at their SM value. The constraints on κλ are the most restrictive to date.