11–13 May 2026
University of Pittsburgh
US/Eastern timezone

A Busy Higgs Signal

12 May 2026, 17:15
15m
David Lawrence Hall 121, University of Pittsburgh

David Lawrence Hall 121, University of Pittsburgh

Speaker

Peiran Li (University of Minnesota)

Description

Higgs final states are central targets in the search for physics beyond the Standard Model. In the conventional picture, $SU(2)$ symmetry together with the Goldstone equivalence theorem correlates Higgs and gauge-boson final states, implying comparable sensitivities in channels such as $hh$, $ZZ$, and $WW$ for heavy resonances. In this work, we identify a simple way to parametrically violate this expectation. We show that higher-order Higgs couplings can induce an electroweak-symmetry-breaking enhancement that selectively amplifies Higgs-rich final states, allowing them to become the leading discovery channels of new resonances. For scalar resonances, this can make di-Higgs the dominant bosonic signal, while for high operator dimension or high resonance mass, it also opens resonant tri-Higgs and four-Higgs channels as well-motivated search targets. The same underlying mechanism extends to heavy fermionic and vector resonances, where it can similarly enhance channels such as $ht$, $Zh$, and $\gamma h$. We present this framework in effective field theory, illustrate possible UV completions, and discuss its implications for collider searches.

Authors

Liantao Wang Peiran Li (University of Minnesota) Zhen Liu

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