Probing the nature of the Higgs-like boson via h → VF decays

We give a general decomposition of the h -> VF amplitude where V = {W-+/-, Z(0)} and F is a generic leptonic or hadronic final state, in the standard model (SM), and in the context of a general effective field theory. The differential distributions for F = l(+) l(-), l (v) over bar (l = e, mu) are reported, and we show how such distributions can be used to determine modified Higgs couplings that cannot be directly extracted from a global fit to Higgs signal strengths. We also demonstrate how rare h -> VP decays, where P is a pseudo-scalar meson, with SM rates in the 10(-5) range, can be used to provide complementary information on the couplings of the newly discovered Higgs-like scalar and are an interesting probe of the vacuum structure of the theory. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.