Search for Higgs boson pair production in association with top-quark pairs using 196 fb-1 of proton–proton collision data at root s = 13 and 13.6 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents the first search for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production in association with a top-quark pair (t tbar H H) using proton–proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 196 fb-1, comprising 140 fb-1 at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 13 TeV and 56 fb-1 at 13.6 TeV. The search targets three distinct final states expected from t tbar H H decays: (i) one lepton (electron or muon) with at least five b-quarks, (ii) at least two b-quarks accompanied by two leptons with the same electric charges or multiple leptons, and (iii) at least three b-quarks with two photons. The t tbar H H production cross-section, relative to its Standard Model prediction, is measured to be mu t tbar H H = −3+11−12. This result corresponds to a 95% confidence-level upper limit of 20 times the Standard Model prediction for the t tbar H H production cross-section, with an expected limit of 21. The Higgs effective field theory Wilson coefficient c(t tbar H H) is also constrained at the same confidence level to the range of −3.9 < c(t tbar H H) < 3.3, compared with the expected range of −4.0 < c(t tbar H H) < 3.5.