Measuring Higgs Spin to Detecting Symmetry in Decay Products

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on measuring the Higgs boson's spin and its impact on the symmetry of decay products. A spin-zero Higgs would yield a spherically symmetric distribution of decay products, while the actual observation involves secondary particles from decays, such as the HZZ coupling resulting in 0, 2, or 4 detectable leptons. The inquiry specifically addresses the symmetry of the 4-lepton channel decay of Z bosons, noting that the Z boson has a non-zero spin, which complicates the expected symmetry in the decay products. The ATLAS and CMS collaborations provide methodologies for these measurements.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Higgs boson properties and decay mechanisms
  • Familiarity with particle physics terminology, particularly spin and symmetry
  • Knowledge of the ATLAS and CMS experimental setups
  • Basic grasp of lepton decay channels in high-energy physics
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the methodologies used by ATLAS and CMS for measuring Higgs spin
  • Study the implications of spin on decay product distributions in particle physics
  • Explore the HZZ coupling and its significance in Higgs decay channels
  • Learn about the statistical analysis techniques used in particle decay symmetry studies
USEFUL FOR

Particle physicists, researchers in high-energy physics, and students studying the properties of the Higgs boson and its decay mechanisms.

ChrisVer
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How would someone measure the Higgs spin?
I have a feeling that the spin would somehow affect the symmetry of the decays...? A spin zero would have to show a spherically symmetric distribution of decay products (independent on ##\theta##, maybe a little dependent on ##\eta## due to the construction of the detector and not because of the particle's spin).
However my problem with that is that we don't see the decays of the Higgs, but the secondary particles... for example the HZZ coupling would give 0-2-4 detectable leptons as a signal from the Z decays. Let's take the 4l channel decay of the Z bosons, should the 4 leptons appear symmetrically? Because the Z spin is not zero...I hope I made clear my problem :/
 
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The ATLAS and CMS publications describe how they do that. Which part is unclear?
 

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