Speaker
Description
LHC searches for nonstandard scalars in vector boson fusion (VBF) production processes can be particularly efficient in probing scalars belonging to triplet or higher multiplet representations of the Standard Model SU(2)L gauge group. They can be especially relevant for models where the additional scalars do not have any tree-level couplings to the Standard Model fermions, rendering VBF as their primary production mode at the LHC. In this work we employ the latest LHC data from VBF resonance searches to constrain the properties of nonstandard scalars, taking the Georgi-Machacek model as a prototypical example. We explicitly demonstrate how a combination of theoretical and phenomenological constraints can push the GM model toward the decoupling limit. Our analysis suggests that the VBF searches can provide key insights into the composition of the electroweak vacuum expectation value.
