Centre d'études et d'expertise sur les risques, l'environnement, la mobilité et l'aménagement

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Recently, the ATLAS and CMS collaborations have announced exciting hints for a Standard Model-like Higgs boson at a mass of ≈ 125 GeV. In this paper, we explore the potential consequences for the MSSM and low scale SUSY-breaking. As is well-known, a 125 GeV Higgs implies either extremely heavy stops ( 10 TeV), or near-maximal stop mixing. We review and quantify these statements, and investigate the implications for models of low-scale SUSY breaking such as gauge mediation where the A-terms are small at the messenger scale. For such models, we find that either a gaugino must be superheavy or the NLSP is long-lived. Furthermore, stops will be tachyonic at high scales. These are very strong restrictions on the mediation of supersymmetry breaking in the MSSM, and suggest that if the Higgs truly is at 125 GeV, viable models of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking are reduced to small corners of parameter space or must incorporate new Higgs-sector physics.

We assess the current state of searches at the LHC for additional Higgs bosons in light of both direct limits and indirect bounds coming from coupling measurements of the Standard Model-like Higgs boson. Given current constraints, we identify and study three LHC searches that are critical components of a comprehensive program to investigate extended electroweak symmetry breaking sectors: production of a heavy scalar or pseudoscalar with decay to tt; bb and tt associated production of a heavy scalar or pseudoscalar with decay to invisible final states; and tb associated production of a charged Higgs with decay totb. Systematic experimental searches in these channels would contribute to robust coverage of the possible single production modes of additional heavy Higgs bosons.