Charged Higgs bosons in the next-to MSSM (NMSSM)

The charged Higgs boson decays H±→W±A1 and H±→W±Hi are studied in the framework of the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM). It is found that the decay rate for H±→W±A1 can exceed the rates for the τ±ν and tb channels both below and above the top–bottom threshold. The dominance of H±→W±A1 is most readily achieved when A1 has a large doublet component and small mass. We also study the production process pp→H±A1 at the LHC followed by the decay H±→W±A1, which leads to the signature W±A1A1. We suggest that pp→H±A1 is a promising discovery channel for a light charged Higgs boson in the NMSSM with small or moderate tanβ and dominant decay mode H±→W±A1. This W±A1A1 signature can also arise from the Higgsstrahlung process pp→W±H1 followed by the decay H1→A1A1. It is shown that there exist regions of parameter space where these processes can have comparable cross sections and we suggest that their respective signals can be distinguished at the LHC by using appropriate reconstruction methods.