Symmetries Behind the 750 GeV Diphoton Excess

Abstract

A 750 GeV resonance has been observed at the Run 2 LHC in the diphoton channel. In this paper, we explain this resonance as a CP-even scalar, S, that triggers the spontaneous breaking of local $U(1)_B$ or $U(1)_{B+L}$ gauge symmetries. S couples to gluon and photon pairs at the one-loop level, where particles running in the loop are originally introduced to cancel anomalies. The gluon fusion is the dominate production channel of S at the LHC. The model automatically contains a scalar dark matter candidate, stabilized by the new gauge symmetry. Our study shows that both the observed production cross section at the LHC and the best fit decay width of S can be explained in this concrete model, without conflicting with any experimental data. Constraints on couplings of S are studied, which shows a negligible mixing with the standard model Higgs boson but sizable coupling with the dark matter.