Evidence for the dimuon decay of the Higgs boson in pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

G. Aad; P.P. Allport; P. Bellos; I. Benaoumeur; J. Bracinik; D.G. Charlton; A.S. Chisholm; A. Dimitrievska; L. Gonella; C.M. Hawkes; S.J. Hillier; K. Krizka; E.H.L. Liu; J.D. Lomas; T.J. Neep; P.R. Newman; E. Skorda; J.P. Thomas; P.D. Thompson; A.T. Watson; M.F. Watson; ATLAS Collaboration

doi:10.1103/gzdh-p159

Evidence for the dimuon decay of the Higgs boson in pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

G. Aad
, P.P. Allport
, P. Bellos
, I. Benaoumeur
, J. Bracinik
, D.G. Charlton
, A.S. Chisholm
, A. Dimitrievska
, L. Gonella
, C.M. Hawkes
, S.J. Hillier
, K. Krizka
, E.H.L. Liu
, J.D. Lomas
, T.J. Neep
, P.R. Newman
, E. Skorda
, J.P. Thomas
, P.D. Thompson
, A.T. Watson

M.F. Watson, ATLAS Collaboration

Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › peer-review

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Abstract

A search for the dimuon decay of the Higgs boson is presented based on 𝑝⁢𝑝 collision data recorded by ATLAS during Run 3 of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 165 fb⁻¹ at √𝑠 = 13.6 TeV. To enhance the sensitivity, the results are combined with those from Run 2. An excess of events over the background is observed with a significance of 3.4⁢𝜎 (2.5⁢𝜎 expected). The best-fit signal strength is 𝜇 = 1.4 ± 0.4. This result provides evidence for the 𝐻→𝜇⁢𝜇 decay with ATLAS data and offers a direct probe of the Higgs-boson Yukawa coupling to second-generation fermions.

Original language	English
Article number	231802
Number of pages	24
Journal	Physical Review Letters
Volume	135
Issue number	23
Early online date	3 Dec 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/gzdh-p159
Publication status	Published - 5 Dec 2025

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10.1103/gzdh-p159Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

AadG2025EvidenceFinal published version, 1.13 MBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

Probing New Physics in Photon-Photon Collisions at the LHC
Newman, P. (Principal Investigator)
The Royal Society
12/12/23 → 11/12/26
Project: Research Councils

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Aad, G., Allport, P. P., Bellos, P., Benaoumeur, I., Bracinik, J., Charlton, D. G., Chisholm, A. S., Dimitrievska, A., Gonella, L., Hawkes, C. M., Hillier, S. J., Krizka, K., Liu, E. H. L., Lomas, J. D., Neep, T. J., Newman, P. R., Skorda, E., Thomas, J. P., Thompson, P. D., ... ATLAS Collaboration (2025). Evidence for the dimuon decay of the Higgs boson in pp collisions with the ATLAS detector. Physical Review Letters, 135(23), Article 231802. https://doi.org/10.1103/gzdh-p159

@article{cb450c46c10642f2ac74be173c381331,

title = "Evidence for the dimuon decay of the Higgs boson in pp collisions with the ATLAS detector",

abstract = "A search for the dimuon decay of the Higgs boson is presented based on 𝑝⁢𝑝 collision data recorded by ATLAS during Run 3 of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 165 fb−1 at √𝑠 = 13.6 TeV. To enhance the sensitivity, the results are combined with those from Run 2. An excess of events over the background is observed with a significance of 3.4⁢𝜎 (2.5⁢𝜎 expected). The best-fit signal strength is 𝜇 = 1.4 ± 0.4. This result provides evidence for the 𝐻→𝜇⁢𝜇 decay with ATLAS data and offers a direct probe of the Higgs-boson Yukawa coupling to second-generation fermions.",

author = "G. Aad and P.P. Allport and P. Bellos and I. Benaoumeur and J. Bracinik and D.G. Charlton and A.S. Chisholm and A. Dimitrievska and L. Gonella and C.M. Hawkes and S.J. Hillier and K. Krizka and E.H.L. Liu and J.D. Lomas and T.J. Neep and P.R. Newman and E. Skorda and J.P. Thomas and P.D. Thompson and A.T. Watson and M.F. Watson and \{ATLAS Collaboration\}",

year = "2025",

month = dec,

day = "5",

doi = "10.1103/gzdh-p159",

language = "English",

volume = "135",

journal = "Physical Review Letters",

issn = "0031-9007",

publisher = "American Physical Society (APS)",

number = "23",

}

Aad, G, Allport, PP, Bellos, P, Benaoumeur, I, Bracinik, J, Charlton, DG , Chisholm, AS , Dimitrievska, A , Gonella, L, Hawkes, CM, Hillier, SJ , Krizka, K, Liu, EHL, Lomas, JD , Neep, TJ , Newman, PR , Skorda, E , Thomas, JP , Thompson, PD , Watson, AT , Watson, MF & ATLAS Collaboration 2025, 'Evidence for the dimuon decay of the Higgs boson in pp collisions with the ATLAS detector', Physical Review Letters, vol. 135, no. 23, 231802. https://doi.org/10.1103/gzdh-p159

TY - JOUR

T1 - Evidence for the dimuon decay of the Higgs boson in pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

AU - Aad, G.

AU - Allport, P.P.

AU - Bellos, P.

AU - Benaoumeur, I.

AU - Bracinik, J.

AU - Charlton, D.G.

AU - Chisholm, A.S.

AU - Dimitrievska, A.

AU - Gonella, L.

AU - Hawkes, C.M.

AU - Hillier, S.J.

AU - Krizka, K.

AU - Liu, E.H.L.

AU - Lomas, J.D.

AU - Neep, T.J.

AU - Newman, P.R.

AU - Skorda, E.

AU - Thomas, J.P.

AU - Thompson, P.D.

AU - Watson, A.T.

AU - Watson, M.F.

AU - ATLAS Collaboration

PY - 2025/12/5

Y1 - 2025/12/5

N2 - A search for the dimuon decay of the Higgs boson is presented based on 𝑝⁢𝑝 collision data recorded by ATLAS during Run 3 of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 165 fb−1 at √𝑠 = 13.6 TeV. To enhance the sensitivity, the results are combined with those from Run 2. An excess of events over the background is observed with a significance of 3.4⁢𝜎 (2.5⁢𝜎 expected). The best-fit signal strength is 𝜇 = 1.4 ± 0.4. This result provides evidence for the 𝐻→𝜇⁢𝜇 decay with ATLAS data and offers a direct probe of the Higgs-boson Yukawa coupling to second-generation fermions.

AB - A search for the dimuon decay of the Higgs boson is presented based on 𝑝⁢𝑝 collision data recorded by ATLAS during Run 3 of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 165 fb−1 at √𝑠 = 13.6 TeV. To enhance the sensitivity, the results are combined with those from Run 2. An excess of events over the background is observed with a significance of 3.4⁢𝜎 (2.5⁢𝜎 expected). The best-fit signal strength is 𝜇 = 1.4 ± 0.4. This result provides evidence for the 𝐻→𝜇⁢𝜇 decay with ATLAS data and offers a direct probe of the Higgs-boson Yukawa coupling to second-generation fermions.

UR - https://journals.aps.org/prl/accepted/10.1103/gzdh-p159

U2 - 10.1103/gzdh-p159

DO - 10.1103/gzdh-p159

M3 - Letter

SN - 0031-9007

VL - 135

JO - Physical Review Letters

JF - Physical Review Letters

IS - 23

M1 - 231802

ER -

Evidence for the dimuon decay of the Higgs boson in pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

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Probing New Physics in Photon-Photon Collisions at the LHC

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