Search for a charged Higgs boson in pp collisions at s = 8 $$ \sqrt{s}=8 $$ TeV

Abstract

A search for a charged Higgs boson is performed with a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 0.5 fb -1 collected with the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at s = 8,TeV. The charged Higgs boson is searched for in top quark decays for m H < m t -m b , and in the direct production pp t(b)H for m H > m t -m b . The H and H tb decay modes in the final states h +jets, h , +jets, and ' ( =e, ) are considered in the search. No signal is observed and 95% confidence level upper limits are set on the charged Higgs boson production. A modelindependent upper limit on the product branching fraction B(t H b) B(H ) = 1.2-0.15% is obtained in the mass range m H = 80-160 GeV, while the upper limit on the cross section times branching fraction (pp t(b)H ) B(H ) = 0.38-0.025 pb is set in the mass range m H + = 180-600 GeV. Here, (pp t(b)H ) stands for the cross section sum (pp t(b)H + ) + (pp t(b)H -). Assuming B(H tb) = 1, an upper limit on (pp t(b)H ) of 2.0-0.13 pb is set for m H = 180-600 GeV. The combination of all considered decay modes and final states is used to set exclusion limits in the m H -tan parameter space in different MSSM benchmark scenarios.