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Model-independent probes of CP violation in the heavy scalar sector at muon colliders

Qianxi Li*, Ying-nan Mao†, and Kechen Wang‡

  • *Contact author: qianxi_li@whut.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: ynmao@whut.edu.cn
  • ‡Contact author: kechen.wang@whut.edu.cn

Phys. Rev. D 113, 075042 – Published 30 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/q5fk-bfm1

Abstract

We propose a model-independent test of CP violation in the scalar sector. We consider a heavy neutral scalar h2 with tree-level couplings at the h2VV and h2h1Z vertices (with V=W±,Z), alongside the 125 GeV SM-like Higgs boson h1. At future muon colliders, we exploit vector-boson fusion production of h2 followed by the decay h2→Zh1. In our framework, observing the single process VV→h2→Zh1 implies both relevant couplings are nonzero, which is sufficient to establish CP violation in the scalar sector. We simulate signal and backgrounds at s=3(10)  TeV with integrated luminosity L=0.9(10)  ab−1. We then present the expected discovery sensitivities across the (c2 and c12) parameter space (with the coupling parameters c2 and c12 defined in the text) for multiple mh2 hypotheses.

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