Constraining new physics in charm quark associated Higgs boson production events using the Standard Model effective field theory approach

A bstract As the search for observable deviations from the Standard Model of particle physics remains to be of significant interest, effective field theory (EFT) continues to be a popular method to parametrize such effects. In this work, a first-time investigation is performed of the unique capability of measurements of charm quark associated Higgs boson production (cH) in proton-proton collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider to constrain a set of dimension-six EFT operators. The phenomenology of these operators is discussed and a proposed analysis strategy is presented, with a focus on H → ZZ * → 4 μ decays, using a generic detector simulation that is parametrized to reflect the response of the CMS detector at the LHC. From this, expected 95% CL upper limits are derived for the Wilson coefficients of individual operators by considering yield and shape effects in the spectra of the four-muon invariant mass m 4 μ and the leading jet transverse momentum p T . Scenarios with simultaneous contributions from two operators are also considered. Finally, potential analysis improvements that may be implemented in an experimental context are outlined.