Three searches are presented for signatures of physics beyond the standard model (SM) in ττ final states in proton-proton collisions at the LHC, using a data sample collected with the CMS detector at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{−1}$. Upper limits at 95% confidence level (CL) are set on the products of the branching fraction for the decay into τ leptons and the cross sections for the production of a new boson ϕ, in addition to the H(125) boson, via gluon fusion (ggϕ) or in association with b quarks, ranging from $ \mathcal{O} $(10 pb) for a mass of 60 GeV to 0.3 fb for a mass of 3.5 TeV each. The data reveal two excesses for ggϕ production with local p-values equivalent to about three standard deviations at m$_{ϕ}$ = 0.1 and 1.2 TeV. In a search for t-channel exchange of a vector leptoquark U$_{1}$, 95% CL upper limits are set on the dimensionless U$_{1}$ leptoquark coupling to quarks and τ leptons ranging from 1 for a mass of 1 TeV to 6 for a mass of 5 TeV, depending on the scenario. In the interpretations of the $ {M}_{\textrm{h}}^{125} $ and $ {M}_{\textrm{h},\textrm{EFT}}^{125} $ minimal supersymmetric SM benchmark scenarios, additional Higgs bosons with masses below 350 GeV are excluded at 95% CL.[graphic not available: see fulltext]
Benecke, A., Bruno, G., Bury, F., Caputo, C., David, P., Delaere, C., Donertas, I. S., Giammanco, A., Jaffel, K., Jain, S., Lemaitre, V., Mondal, K., Prisciandaro, J., Taliercio, A., Tran, T. T., Vischia, P., Wertz, S., CMS, Bethani, A., & et al. (2023). Searches for additional Higgs bosons and for vector leptoquarks in ττ final states in proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV. Journal of High Energy Physics, 07. https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2023)073 (Original work published 2023)