Real corrections to Higgs boson pair production at NNLO in the large top quark mass limit

In this paper we consider the next-to-next-to-leading order total cross section of Higgs boson pair production in the large top quark mass limit and compute four expansion terms in 1/$$ {m}_t^2 $$ m t 2 . To this end, we analytically compute the real-virtual and double-real contributions to the total cross section and combine them with the existing virtual contribution. Good convergence is observed below the top quark threshold, which makes our results a valuable input for approximation methods which aim for next-to-next-to-leading order corrections over the whole kinematic range. We present details on various steps of our calculation; in particular, we provide results for three- and four-particle phase-space master integrals and describe in detail the evaluation of the collinear counterterms.

Anomalous couplings in Higgs-boson pair production at approximate NNLO QCD

We combine NLO predictions with full top-quark mass dependence with approximate NNLO predictions for Higgs-boson pair production in gluon fusion, including the possibility to vary coupling parameters within a non-linear Effective Field Theory framework containing five anomalous couplings for this process. We study the impact of the anomalous couplings on various observables, and present Higgs-pair invariant-mass distributions at seven benchmark points characterising different mhh shape types. We also provide numerical coefficients for the approximate NNLO cross section as a function of the anomalous couplings at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 14 TeV.

Top quark contribution to two-loop helicity amplitudes for Z boson pair production in gluon fusion

We compute the top quark contribution to the two-loop amplitude for on-shell Z boson pair production in gluon fusion, gg → ZZ. Exact dependence on the top quark mass is retained. For each phase space point the integral reduction is performed numerically and the master integrals are evaluated using the auxiliary mass flow method, allowing fast computation of the amplitude with very high precision.

Search for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production in final states with two bottom quarks and two photons in proton-proton collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 13 TeV

A search for nonresonant production of Higgs boson pairs via gluon-gluon and vector boson fusion processes in final states with two bottom quarks and two photons is presented. The search uses data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 13 TeV recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb−1. No significant deviation from the background-only hypothesis is observed. An upper limit at 95% confidence level is set on the product of the Higgs boson pair production cross section and branching fraction into $$ \gamma \gamma \mathrm{b}\overline{\mathrm{b}} $$ γγ b b ¯ . The observed (expected) upper limit is determined to be 0.67 (0.45) fb, which corresponds to 7.7 (5.2) times the standard model prediction. This search has the highest sensitivity to Higgs boson pair production to date. Assuming all other Higgs boson couplings are equal to their values in the standard model, the observed coupling modifiers of the trilinear Higgs boson self-coupling κλ and the coupling between a pair of Higgs bosons and a pair of vector bosons c2V are constrained within the ranges −3.3 < κλ< 8.5 and −1.3 < c2V< 3.5 at 95% confidence level. Constraints on κλ are also set by combining this analysis with a search for single Higgs bosons decaying to two photons, produced in association with top quark-antiquark pairs, and by performing a simultaneous fit of κλ and the top quark Yukawa coupling modifier κt.

Contribution of third generation quarks to two-loop helicity amplitudes for W boson pair production in gluon fusion

We compute the contribution of third generation quarks (t, b) to the two-loop amplitude for on-shell W boson pair production in gluon fusion gg → WW. We present plots for the amplitude across partonic phase space as well as reference values for two kinematic points. The master integrals are efficiently evaluated by numerically solving a system of ordinary differential equations.