Understand
Models with extended Higgs sectors can contain several additional Higgs states, heavier or lighter than the SM Higgs boson.
- The couplings of lighter extra states to SM particles can be strongly reduced, leading to small cross sections for their direct production.
- Heavier extra states can have larger couplings to SM particles and, moreover, have large branching fractions into lighter extra states, notably into a SM-like Higgs boson accompagnied by another Higgs state which can be lighter or heavier than 125$\sim$GeV.
- Motivated by corresponding scenarios in the NMSSM we study the prospects for the discovery or exclusion of cascade decays $ggF \to H_3 \to H_2 + H_1$ in the $b\bar{b}b\bar{b}$, $b\bar{b}\tau\tau$ and $b\bar{b}\gamma\gamma$ final states where either $H_1$ or $H_2$ can be SM-like.