We study the
a
1
a
1
and
Z
a
1
decay channels of the next-to-lightest CP-even Higgs boson
h
2
of the NMSSM at the LHC, where the
h
2
is produced in gluon fusion. It is found that while the
h
2
discovery is impossible through the latter channel, the former one in the
4
τ
final state is a promising channel to discover the
h
2
with masses up to around 250 GeV at the LHC. Such a discovery of the
h
2
is mostly accompanied with a light
a
1
, which is a clear evidence for distinguishing the NMSSM from the MSSM since such a light
a
1
is impossible in the MSSM.
LHC signals of a heavyCP-even Higgs boson in the NMSSM via decays into aZand a lightCP-odd Higgs state
