$$W^+_{} W^-_{} H$$ W+W-H production at lepton colliders: a new hope for heavy neutral leptons

Abstract

Abstract We present the first study of the production of a Standard Model Higgs boson at a lepton collider in association with a pair of W bosons, $$e^+_{} e^-_{} \rightarrow W^+_{} W^-_{} H$$ e+e-→W+W-H , in the inverse seesaw model. Taking into account all relevant experimental and theoretical constraints, we find sizable effects due to the additional heavy neutrinos up to $$-38\%$$ -38% on the total cross-section at a center-of-mass energy of 3 TeV, and even up to $$-66\%$$ -66% with suitable cuts. This motivates a detailed sensitivity analysis of the process $$e^+_{} e^-_{} \rightarrow W^+_{} W^-_{} H$$ e+e-→W+W-H as it could provide a new, very competitive experimental probe of low-scale neutrino mass models.