Paper detail

Higgs couplings in a model with triplets

We study the couplings of a CP-even neutral Higgs boson h in a model containing one scalar SU(2)_L doublet, one real triplet, and one complex triplet with hypercharge 1. Because the two triplets contribute to the rho parameter with opposite signs, the triplet vacuum expectation values can be sizable. We show that (i) the hWW and hZZ couplings can be larger than the corresponding values in the Standard Model, and (ii) the ratio of the WW and ZZ couplings of h can be different than the corresponding ratio in the Standard Model. Neither of these results can occur in models containing only Higgs doublets. We also compute the rates for gg --> h --> WW and gg --> h --> ZZ and find that, for reasonable parameter values and M_h ~ 140-180 GeV, the hadron collider rate for gg --> h --> WW (ZZ) can be up to 20% (5 times) larger than in the Standard Model. We discuss implications for Higgs coupling extraction at the LHC.