Search for a Light Charged Higgs Boson Decaying to a W Boson and a C P -Odd Higgs Boson in Final States with e μ μ or μ μ μ in Proton-Proton Collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract

A search for a light charged Higgs boson ( H + ) decaying to a W boson and a C P -odd Higgs boson ( A ) in final states with e μ μ or μ μ μ is performed using data from p p collisions at √ s = 13 TeV , recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb − 1 . In this search, it is assumed that the H + boson is produced in decays of top quarks, and the A boson decays to two oppositely charged muons. The presence of signals for H + boson masses between 100 and 160 GeV and A boson masses between 15 and 75 GeV is investigated. No evidence for the production of the H + boson is found. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are obtained on the combined branching fraction for the decay chain, t → b H + → b W + A → b W + μ + μ − , of 1.9 × 10 − 6 to 8.6 × 10 − 6 , depending on the masses of the H + and A bosons. These are the first limits for these decay modes of the H + and A bosons.