The Higgs boson of the Standard Model is being searched for at the LHC in the channel $H\to \gamma \gamma$. In the Higgs Triplet Model (HTM), there are contributions to this decay from loops of doubly charged scalars ($H^{\pm \pm }$) and singly charged scalars ($H^{\pm }$) which are not present in the Standard Model. These additional contributions are mediated by the trilinear couplings $H_1{H}^{++}{H}^{--}$ and $H_1{H}^{+}{H}^{-}$, where $H_1$ is the lightest $CP$-even Higgs boson. We point out the possibility of constructive interference of the $H^{\pm \pm }$ contribution with that of the $W^{\pm }$ contribution, which enables a substantial enhancement of the branching ratio of $H_1\to \gamma \gamma$ in the HTM. The magnitude of the contribution of $H^{\pm \pm }$ is essentially determined by the mass of $H^{\pm \pm }$ ($m_{H^{\pm \pm }}$) and a quartic scalar coupling (${\lambda }_1$), with constructive interference arising for ${\lambda }_1<0$. Consequently, the ongoing searches for $H\to \gamma \gamma$ restrict the parameter space of $[m_{H^{\pm \pm }},{\lambda }_1]$ more stringently for ${\lambda }_1<0$ than for the recently studied case of destructive interference with ${\lambda }_1>0$. Moreover, if the excess of $\gamma \gamma$ events around a mass of 125 GeV in the LHC searches for $H\to \gamma \gamma$ is substantiated with larger data samples, and the branching ratio is measured to be somewhat larger than that for the SM Higgs boson, then such an enhancement could be readily accommodated by $H_1$ in the HTM with ${\lambda }_1<0$.

• Received 11 June 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.86.035015