Resolving charm and bottom quark masses in precision Higgs boson analyses

Abstract

Masses of the charm and bottom quarks are important inputs to precision calculations of Higgs boson observables, such as its partial widths and branching fractions. They constitute a major source of theory uncertainties that needs to be better understood and reduced in light of future high-precision measurements. Conventionally, Higgs boson observables are calculated in terms of $m_c$ and $m_b$, whose values are obtained by averaging over many extractions from low-energy data. This approach may ultimately be unsatisfactory, since $m_c$ and $m_b$ as single numbers hide various sources of uncertainties involved in their extractions some of which call for more careful estimations, and also hide correlations with additional inputs such as $\alpha_s$. Aiming at a more detailed understanding of the uncertainties from $m_c$ and $m_b$ in precision Higgs boson analyses, we present a calculation of Higgs boson observables in terms of low-energy observables, which reveals concrete sources of uncertainties that challenge sub-percent-level calculations of Higgs boson partial widths.