95 GeV excess in the Georgi-Machacek model: Single or twin peak resonance

In this work, we investigate the possibility to address the excess observed around 95 GeV in the γγ, ττ, and bb¯ channels as a scalar resonance(s) within the Georgi-Machacek model. In our analysis, we find that the excess can be easily accommodated in the channels (γγ and bb¯) simultaneously, where the 95 GeV candidate is a single peak resonance (SPR) due to a light CP-even scalar. We found that the excess in the ττ channel can be addressed simultaneously with γγ and bb¯ only if the 95 GeV candidate is a twin peak resonance (TPR), i.e., another CP-odd scalar in addition to the CP-even scalar. We demonstrate that the nature of the 95 GeV scalar resonance candidate (SPR or TPR) can be probed via the properties of its di-τ decay. Published by the American Physical Society 2024