Search for new neutral Higgs bosons through the H $\to$ ZA $\to$ $\ell^{+}\ell^{-} \mathrm{b\bar{b}}$ process in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV

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This paper reports on a search for an extended scalar sector of the standard model, where a new CP-even (odd) boson decays to a Z boson and a lighter CP-odd (even) boson, and the latter further decays to a b quark pair.

• The Z boson is reconstructed via its decays to electron or muon pairs.
• The analysed data were recorded in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC during 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$.
• Data and predictions from the standard model are in agreement within the uncertainties.