Subjects: Physics >> The Physics of Elementary Particles and Fields submitted time 2016-07-11
Abstract: We study the decay of a Z' boson into two Z bosons by extending the Landau-Yang theorem to a parent particle decaying into two Z bosons. For a spin-1 parent the theorem predicts that (1) there are only two possible couplings and (2) the normalized differential cross section depends on kinematics only through a phase shift in the azimuthal angle between the two decay planes of the Z boson. When the parent is a Z' the two possible couplings are anomaly induced and CP violating, respectively. At the CERN Large Hadron Collider their effects could be disentangled when both Z bosons decay leptonically.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Physics >> The Physics of Elementary Particles and Fields submitted time 2016-07-08
Abstract: We discuss general on-shell couplings of a scalar with two Z bosons using an operator analysis. In addition to the operator that originated from the Higgs mechanism, two dimension-five operators, one CP even and one CP odd, are generated only at the loop level. Simple formulas are derived for the differential decay distributions when the Z pair subsequently decays into four leptons by computing the helicity amplitudes, from which it is shown the CP-odd operator merely induces a phase shift in the azimuthal angular distribution between the two decay planes of the Z bosons. We also investigate new physics scenarios giving rise to loop-induced decays of a scalar into the ZZ pair, and argue that the total decay width of such a scalar would be an order-of-magnitude smaller than that of a Higgs boson, should such decays be observed in the early running of the LHC. Therefore, the total decay width alone is a strong indicator of the Higgs nature, or the lack thereof, of a scalar resonance in ZZ final states. In addition, we study the possibility of using the azimuthal angular distribution to disentangle effects among all three operators.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review