Search for exotic Higgs boson decays H → A A → 4 γ with events containing two merged diphotons in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract

We present the first direct search for exotic Higgs boson decays H → AA, A → γγ in events with two photonlike objects. The hypothetical particle A is a low-mass spin-0 particle decaying promptly to a merged diphoton reconstructed as a single photonlike object. We analyze the data collected by the CMS experiment at ffiffi s p ¼ 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 136 fb−1. No excess above the estimated background is found. We set upper limits on the branching fraction BðH → AA → 4γÞ of ð0.9–3.3Þ × 10−3 at 95% confidence level for masses of A in the range 0.1–1.2 GeV.