Probing New Physics with the Electron Yukawa coupling

Abstract

A dedicated run of a future electron-positron collider (FCC-ee) at a center-of-mass energy equal to the Higgs boson mass would enable a direct measurement of the electron Yukawa coupling. However, it poses substantial experimental difficulties due to large backgrounds, the requirement for monochromatised $e^+e^-$ beams, and the potential extension of the FCC-ee timeline. Given this, we explore the extent to which the electron Yukawa coupling can be enhanced in simplified UV models and examine whether such scenarios can be constrained by other FCC-ee runs or upcoming experiments at the intensity frontier. Our results indicate that in certain classes of models, the $(g-2)_e$ provides a probe of the electron Yukawa coupling that is as effective or better than the FCC-ee. Nevertheless, there exist models that can lead to sizeable deviations in the electron Yukawa coupling which can only be probed in a dedicated run at the Higgs pole mass.