Detecting an Intermediate Mass Charged Higgs at $γγ$ Colliders

Abstract

The detection of an intermediate mass charged Higgs boson at $\gamgam$ colliders via the modes $\gamgam \to H^+ H^- \to ντ^+ \barν τ^-,~ c \bar{s} \bar{c} s,~$ and $ ντ^+ \bar{c}s + c \bar{s} \barν τ^-$ is considered. $W^+ W^-$ boson pair production is the dominant background for these modes. The three modes may be used in a complementary fashion to detect a charged Higgs boson. The mixed leptonic-hadronic mode may be used to determine the charged Higgs mass by reconstructing the invariant hadronic mass. The sensitivity of Br$(H^+ \rightarrow c\bar s,\,ντ^+)$ on the discovery limit of the charged Higgs boson is also discussed.

Latex file, 13 pages, 8 figures (available by anonymous ftp at utaphy/UTTG-preprints in the files phohiggs1.ps and phohiggs2.ps), preprint NUHEP-TH-93-7, CPP-93-6, UTTG-8-93 (minor typos corrected)