Enhancing the ttH signal through top-quark spin polarization effects at the LHC

Abstract

We compare the impact of top-quark spin polarization effects in Higgs boson production in association with top-quark pairs and in corresponding backgrounds at the LHC. Because of the spin-zero nature of the Higgs boson, one expects, in the chiral limit for the top quarks, a substantial complementarity in $t\bar t$ spin correlations for a Higgs decaying into fermions/gauge-bosons and $t\bar{t}$ spin correlations for the corresponding irreducible $t\bar t f\bar f/VV$ backgrounds. Although top mass effects in $t\bar t H$ production are in general dominant, and seriously spoil the chiral-limit expectations, one can find observables that capture the $t \bar t$ angular spin correlations and can help in separating the signal from irreducible backgrounds. In particular, we show that, for both $H\to b\bar b$ and $H\to \gamma\gamma$, taking into account $t\bar{t}$ spin correlations in $t\bar t H$ production and irreducible backgrounds could appreciably improve the LHC sensitivity to the $t\bar t H$ channel.