Status of negative coupling modifiers for extended Higgs sectors

In this work, we study the status of negative coupling modifiers in extended Higgs sectors, focusing on the ratio of coupling modifiers that probes custodial symmetry violation lambda(WZ) = kappa(W)/kappa(Z). Higgs sectors with multiplets larger than doublets are the only weakly coupled models that give tree-level modifications to lambda(WZ), and we explore all such models allowed by the constraint from the rho parameter and perturbative unitarity. This class of models has a custodial symmetry violating potential, while the vacuum configuration preserves the symmetry. We apply precision measurements from ATLAS and CMS and show that each dataset can exclude a vast set of models with lambda(WZ) < 0 at greater than 95% confidence level. We give evidence that lambda(WZ) < 0 is excluded in all weakly coupled models.

Automated summary

This work investigates the status of negative coupling modifiers in extended Higgs sectors and finds that lambda(WZ) < 0 is excluded in all weakly coupled models.