This article presents searches for the Zγ decay of the Higgs boson and for narrow high-mass resonances decaying to Zγ, exploiting Z boson decays to pairs of electrons or muons. The data analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of pp collisions at s=13 recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The data are found to be consistent with the expected Standard Model background. The observed (expected — assuming Standard Model pp → H → Zγ production and decay) upper limit on the production cross section times the branching ratio for pp → H → Zγ is 6.6. (5.2) times the Standard Model prediction at the 95% confidence level for a Higgs boson mass of 125.09 GeV. In addition, upper limits are set on the production cross section times the branching ratio as a function of the mass of a narrow resonance between 250 GeV and 2.4 TeV, assuming spin-0 resonances produced via gluon-gluon fusion, and spin-2 resonances produced via gluon-gluon or quark-antiquark initial states. For high-mass spin-0 resonances, the observed (expected) limits vary between 88 fb (61 fb) and 2.8 fb (2.7 fb) for the mass range from 250 GeV to 2.4 TeV at the 95% confidence level.

Aaboud, M., Aad, G., Abbott, B., Abdinov, O., Abeloos, B., Abidi, S.H., et al. (2017). Searches for the Zγ decay mode of the Higgs boson and for new high-mass resonances in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. JOURNAL OF HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS, 2017(10) [10.1007/JHEP10(2017)112].

Searches for the Zγ decay mode of the Higgs boson and for new high-mass resonances in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Ceradini F.;Di Micco B.;Di Nardo R.;Orestano D.;Petrucci F.;