Detecting an Intermediate Mass Charged Higgs at $\gamma \gamma$ Colliders

Abstract

The detection of an intermediate mass charged Higgs boson at $\gamgam$ colliders via the modes $\gamgam \to H^+ H^- \to \nu \tau^+ \bar{\nu} \tau^-,~ c \bar{s} \bar{c} s,~$ and $ \nu \tau^+ \bar{c}s + c \bar{s} \bar{\nu} \tau^-$ is considered. $W^+ W^-$ boson pair production is the dominant background for these modes. The three modes may be used in a complementary fashion to detect a charged Higgs boson. The mixed leptonic-hadronic mode may be used to determine the charged Higgs mass by reconstructing the invariant hadronic mass. The sensitivity of Br$(H^+ \rightarrow c\bar s,\,\nu \tau^+)$ on the discovery limit of the charged Higgs boson is also discussed.