Search for Higgs boson pair production in the bb¯bb¯ final state from pp collisions at root s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract

A search for Higgs boson pair production pp → hh is performed with 19.5 fb-1 of proton–proton collision data at √s=8 TeV, which were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012. The decay products of each Higgs boson are reconstructed as a high-momentum bb¯ system with either a pair of small-radius jets or a single large-radius jet, the latter exploiting jet substructure techniques and associated b-tagged track-jets. No evidence for resonant or non-resonant Higgs boson pair production is observed. The data are interpreted in the context of the Randall–Sundrum model with a warped extra dimension as well as the two-Higgs-doublet model. An upper limit on the cross-section for pp → GKK ∗ → hh → bb¯bb¯ of 3.2 (2.3) fb is set for a Kaluza–Klein graviton GKK ∗ mass of 1.0 (1.5) TeV, at the 95 % confidence level. The search for non-resonant Standard Model hh production sets an observed 95 % confidence level upper limit on the production cross-section σ(pp → hh → bb¯bb¯) of 202 fb, compared to a Standard Model prediction of σ(pp → hh → bb¯bb¯)=3.6±0.5 fb.