A detailed map of Higgs boson interactions by the ATLAS experiment ten years after the discovery

ATLAS COLLABORATION, G. AAD, MT DOVA ET AL

NATURE

NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2022

0028-0836

The standard model of particle physics1–4 describes the known fundamental particlesand forces that make up our Universe, with the exception of gravity. One of the centralfeatures of the standard model is a field that permeates all of space and interacts withfundamental particles5–9. The quantum excitation of this field, known as the Higgsfield, manifests itself as the Higgs boson, the only fundamental particle with no spin.In 2012, a particle with properties consistent with the Higgs boson of the standardmodel was observed by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Colliderat CERN10,11. Since then, more than 30 times as many Higgs bosons have been recordedby the ATLAS experiment, enabling much more precise measurements and new testsof the theory. Here, on the basis of this larger dataset, we combine an unprecedentednumber of production and decay processes of the Higgs boson to scrutinize itsinteractions with elementary particles. Interactions with gluons, photons, and W andZ bosons—the carriers of the strong, electromagnetic and weak forces—are studied indetail. Interactions with three third-generation matter particles (bottom (b) and top(t) quarks, and tau leptons (τ)) are well measured and indications of interactions with asecond-generation particle (muons, μ) are emerging. These tests reveal that the Higgsboson discovered ten years ago is remarkably consistent with the predictions of thetheory and provide stringent constraints on many models of new phenomena beyondthe standard model.