Search for new resonances decaying to a $W$ or $Z$ boson and a Higgs boson in the $\ell^+ \ell^- b\bar b$, $\ell νb\bar b$, and $ν\barν b\bar b$ channels with $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt s = 13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract

A search is presented for new resonances decaying to a $W$ or $Z$ boson and a Higgs boson in the $\ell^+ \ell^- b\bar b$, $\ellνb\bar b$, and $ν\barν b\bar b$ channels in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt s = 13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider using a total integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. The search is conducted by looking for a localized excess in the $WH$/$ZH$ invariant or transverse mass distribution. No significant excess is observed, and the results are interpreted in terms of constraints on a simplified model based on a phenomenological Lagrangian of heavy vector triplets.

18 pages (plus author list + cover pages: 36 pages total), 13 figures, 1 table. Submitted to PLB. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/EXOT-2015-18/