A higher dimensional explanation of the excess of Higgs-like events at CERN LEP

Abstract

Searches for the SM Higgs boson by the four LEP experiments have found a 2.3 sigma excess at 98 GeV and a smaller 1.7 sigma at around 115 GeV. We interpret these excesses as evidence for a Higgs boson coupled to a higher dimensional singlet scalar. The fit implies a relatively low dimensional mixing scale mu_{lhd} < 50 GeV, which explains the low confidence level found for the background fit in the range s^{1/2} > 100 GeV. The data show a slight preference for a five-dimensional over a six-dimensional field. This Higgs boson cannot be seen at the LHC, but can be studied at the ILC.