Article,
MSSM Higgs Boson Searches at the Tevatron and the LHC: Impact of Different Benchmark Scenarios
(November 2005)
Abstract
The Higgs boson search has shifted from LEP2 to the Tevatron and will
subsequently move to the LHC. The current limits from the Tevatron and the
prospective sensitivities at the LHC are often interpreted in specific MSSM
scenarios. For heavy Higgs boson production and subsequent decay into b b
or tau^+ tau^-, the present Tevatron data allow to set limits in the
M_A-tan_beta plane for small M_A and large tan_beta values. Similar channels
have been explored for the LHC, where the discovery reach extends to higher
values of M_A and smaller tan_beta. Searches for MSSM charged Higgs bosons,
produced in top decays or in association with top quarks, have also been
investigated at the Tevatron and the LHC. We analyze the current Tevatron
limits and prospective LHC sensitivities. We discuss how robust they are with
respect to variations of the other MSSM parameters and possible improvements of
the theoretical predictions for Higgs boson production and decay. It is shown
that the inclusion of supersymmetric radiative corrections to the production
cross sections and decay widths leads to important modifications of the present
limits on the MSSM parameter space. The impact on the region where only the
lightest MSSM Higgs boson can be detected at the LHC is also analyzed. We
propose to extend the existing benchmark scenarios by including additional
values of the higgsino mass parameter mu. This affects only slightly the search
channels for a SM-like Higgs boson, while having a major impact on the searches
for non-standard MSSM Higgs bosons.
