In the NMSSM, because of introducing a complex singlet superfield, the lightest CP-odd Higgs boson, a 1 , can be a singlet-like state with a tiny doublet component in large regions of parameter space. In this paper, we examine the discovery potential of a 1 produced in association with a bottom-antibottom pair at the LHC through τ + τ − and γγ decay modes. It is shown that an a 1 with mass ≤ M Z can be extracted from the SM backgrounds by using the τ + τ − decay channel, a possibility precluded to the MSSM. In contrast, the γγ decay mode is overwhelmed by backgrounds despite the fact that the branching ratio of this mode can reach unity when a 1 is a pure singlet.

We study here the µ + µ − decay mode of a very light CP-odd Higgs boson of the NMSSM, a 1 , produced in association with a bottom-antibottom pair and find that, despite small event rates, a significant signal should be extractable from the SM background at the LHC with high luminosity.

We show the potential of the LHC to detect a CP-even Higgs boson of the NMSSM, $h_1$ or $h_2$, decaying into two rather light CP-odd Higgs bosons, $a_1$, by exploiting the production mode based on Higgs-strahlung off $b$-quarks, i.e., the channel $pp\to b\bar b h_{1,2}$. We also consider the case of $h_2\to h_1 h_1$ decays. It is found that these decays have dominant BRs over large regions of the NMSSM parameter space where tan$\beta$ is large, a condition which also favours the $pp\to b\bar b h_{1,2}$ production rates. Further decays of the light Higgs boson pairs ($a_1$ and $h_1$) into photon, muon, tau and $b$ final states are also considered. The overall production and decay rates for these processes at inclusive level are sizable and should help extracting at least one Higgs boson signal over the NMSSM parameter space.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, added comments and corrected typo

We study the detectability of the lightest CP-odd Higgs boson of the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM), a 1 , at the LHC through its production in association with a bottom-quark pair followed by the a 1 ! b " b decay. It is shown that, for large tan and very high luminosity of the LHC, there exist regions of the NMSSM parameter space that can be exploited to detect the a 1 through this channel. This signature is a characteristic feature of the NMSSM in comparison to the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), as a 1 masses involved are well below those allowed in the MSSM for the corresponding CP-odd Higgs state.

We review the potential of the LHC to detect a very light CP-odd Higgs boson of the NMSSM, a 1 , through its direct production in association with a bottom-quark pair at large tanβ. We also review the LHC discovery potential of the two lightest CP-even Higgs states, decaying into two lighter Higgs states or into the lightest CP-odd Higgs state and the Z gauge boson.