Results are reported from a search for non-standard-model Higgs boson decays to pairs of new light bosons, each of which decays into the [mu]+[mu]- final state. The new bosons may be produced either promptly or via a decay chain. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.3 fb-1 of proton-proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV, recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011. Such Higgs boson decays are predicted in several scenarios of new physics, including supersymmetric models with extended Higgs sectors or hidden valleys. Thus, the results of the search are relevant for establishing whether the new particle observed in Higgs boson searches at the LHC has the properties expected for a standard model Higgs boson. No excess of events is observed with respect to the yields expected from standard model processes. A model-independent upper limit of 0.86±0.06 fb on the product of the cross section times branching fraction times acceptance is obtained. Finally, the results, which are applicable to a broad spectrum of new physics scenarios, are compared with the predictions of two benchmark models as functions of a Higgs boson mass larger than 86 GeV/c2 and of a new light boson mass within the range 0.25-3.55 GeV/c2.

This thesis presents a study of the scalar sector in the standard model (SM), as well as various searches for an extended scalar sector in theories beyond the SM (BSM). The first part of the thesis details the search for an SM Higgs boson decaying to taus, and produced by gluon fusion, vector boson fusion, or associated production with a vector boson, leading to evidence for decays of the Higgs boson to taus. In turn, the second part highlights several searches for an extended scalar sector, with scalar boson decays to taus. In all of the analyses presented, at least one scalar boson decays to a pair of taus. The results draw on data collected by the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector during proton–proton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of 7 or 8 TeV.

In this dissertation, I present a search for non-standard decays of a Standard Model-like Higgs boson to pairs of light bosons, as predicted in models with extended Higgs sectors. In two Higgs doublet models, including the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model, the Higgs boson can decay into a pair of light pseudoscalars a. In this search, the gluon fusion, W and Z associated Higgs, and vector boson fusion production channels for the Higgs are all considered, and the decay H->aa with a->[tau][tau] is reconstructed from the tau decay products. The final state is characterized by one isolated high p[subscript]T muon plus at least one highly boosted pair of taus, of which one of the taus is required to decay to a muon.Using 19.7 fb−1 of 8 TeV center of mass pp collision data recorded by the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, a counting experiment is performed in a region of high di-tau invariant mass. We have found no excess of events above the Standard Model backgrounds, and the observed data is used to set upper limits on the branching ratio Br(H->aa)Br2(a->[tau][tau]). These results are equally applicable to decays of the SM-like Higgs boson to a pair of light scalars h.

In this dissertation, we present a search for non-standard decay of the Standard Model-like Higgs boson to a pair of pseudoscalar lighter bosons H →aa with 12 Geva/sub

A search for the decay to a pair of new particles of either the 125 GeV Higgs boson (h) or a second charge parity (CP)-even Higgs boson (H) is presented. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb-1 of pp collisions at [arrow]" = 8 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2012. The search was done in the context of the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model, in which the new particles are the lightest neutral pseudoscalar Higgs bosons (a). One of the two a bosons is required to decay to two muons while the other is required to decay to two [tau] leptons. No significant excess is observed above the expected backgrounds in the dimuon invariant mass range from 3.7 to 50 GeV. Upper limits are placed on the production of h 2!aa relative to the standard model gg 2!h production, assuming no coupling of the a boson to quarks. The most stringent limit is placed at 3.5% for ma = 3.75 GeV. Upper limits are also placed on the production cross section of H 2!aa from 2.33 to 0.72 pb, for fixed ma = 5 GeV with mH ranging from 100 to 500 GeV.

This book describes the searches that lead to the discovery of a Higgs boson performed at CMS, one of the two main experiments at the CERN LHC. After an overview of the theory and of the CMS experiment, all search channels are described, with emphasis on the ones with the best sensitivity. The statistical methodology used to analyse and the outcomes of the searches and the discovery results are then presented in detail.

A search is presented for decays beyond the standard model of the 125 GeV Higgs bosons to a pair of light bosons, based on models with extended scalar sectors. Light boson masses between 5 and 62.5 GeV are probed in final states containing four tau leptons, two muons and two b quarks, or two muons and two tau leptons. The results are from data in proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse-femtobarns, accumulated by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. No evidence for such exotic decays is found in the data. Upper limits are set on the product of the cross section and branching fraction for several signal processes. The results are also compared to predictions of two-Higgs-doublet models, including those with an additional scalar singlet.