Light charged Higgs boson production at the Large Hadron electron Collider

Abstract

We study the production of a light charged Higgs boson at the future Large Hadron electron Collider (LHeC), through the process $e^- p \to \nu_e H^- q$ considering both decay channels $H^- \to b \bar c$ and $H^- \to \tau \bar \nu_\tau$ in the final state. We analyse these processes in the context of the 2-Higgs Doublet Model Type III (2HDM-III) and assess the LHeC sensitivity to such $H^-$ signals against a variety of both reducible and irreducible backgrounds. We confirm that prospects for $H^-$ detection in the 2HDM-III are excellent assuming standard collider energy and luminosity conditions.