Probing the Higgs Sector with the CMS Experiment at the LHC

Abstract:
The discovery of the Higgs boson by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2012 marked a major milestone in particle physics and initiated an extensive program of precision measurements of its properties. As a cornerstone of the Standard Model (SM), the Higgs boson is responsible for the generation
of the masses of the W and Z gauge bosons and fermions through the Higgs mechanism. While the SM has been remarkably successful in describing electroweak and strong interactions, it does not provide a viable dark matter candidate, explain neutrino masses, or account for the observed matter–antimatter asymmetry of the Universe. These limitations motivate theories beyond the Standard Model (BSM), many of which predict an extended Higgs sector. This talk will review the current status of Higgs boson property measurements with the CMS experiment at the LHC, focusing on key aspects such as its couplings, production mechanisms, decay modes, and other precision
observables. These measurements provide stringent tests of the SM and offer sensitivity to possible contributions from new physics at higher energy scales. If time permits, the talk will also briefly discuss searches for additional Higgs bosons predicted by various BSM scenarios, highlighting the potential of the LHC to probe an extended Higgs sector.