Probing the general 2HDM with flavor violation through <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>A</mml:mi><mml:mo stretchy="false">→</mml:mo><mml:mi>Z</mml:mi><mml:mi>H</mml:mi></mml:math>

We investigate the LHC discovery prospects for a second Higgs doublet through <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:mi>A</a:mi><a:mo stretchy="false">→</a:mo><a:mi>Z</a:mi><a:mi>H</a:mi></a:math> weak decay. The latter is identified as the of two Higgs doublet models (2HDMs) with first-order electroweak (EW) phase transition, a necessary condition for EW baryogenesis. In the general 2HDM (G2HDM) that has flavor-changing neutral Higgs couplings, <d:math xmlns:d="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><d:mi>H</d:mi></d:math> may decay dominantly via <f:math xmlns:f="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><f:mi>t</f:mi><f:mover accent="true"><f:mi>c</f:mi><f:mo stretchy="false">¯</f:mo></f:mover><f:mo>+</f:mo><f:mover accent="true"><f:mi>t</f:mi><f:mo stretchy="false">¯</f:mo></f:mover><f:mi>c</f:mi></f:math> final states, giving rise to trilepton signals. By a phenomenological analysis, we show that <l:math xmlns:l="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><l:mi>A</l:mi><l:mo stretchy="false">→</l:mo><l:mi>Z</l:mi><l:mi>H</l:mi></l:math> in <o:math xmlns:o="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><o:msup><o:mo>ℓ</o:mo><o:mo>+</o:mo></o:msup><o:msup><o:mo>ℓ</o:mo><o:mo>−</o:mo></o:msup><o:mi>t</o:mi><o:mover accent="true"><o:mi>c</o:mi><o:mo stretchy="false">¯</o:mo></o:mover></o:math> or <s:math xmlns:s="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><s:msup><s:mo>ℓ</s:mo><s:mo>+</s:mo></s:msup><s:msup><s:mo>ℓ</s:mo><s:mo>−</s:mo></s:msup><s:mover accent="true"><s:mi>t</s:mi><s:mo stretchy="false">¯</s:mo></s:mover><s:mi>c</s:mi></s:math> final states could be a promising probe of G2HDM at the LHC with flavor violation.