How Resonance-Continuum Interference Changes 750 GeV Diphoton Excess: Signal Enhancement and Peak Shift

Abstract: The new scalar resonance contribution to the 750 GeV diphoton excess observed at the LHC 13 TeV necessarily interferes with the continuum background in the $gg\to \gamma \gamma$. The interference has two considerable effects: (1) enhancing or suppressing diphoton signal rate due to the imaginary-part interference and (2) distorting resonance shape due to the real-part interference. From the best-fit study of two benchmark models (two Higgs doublets with $\sim$50 GeV widths and a singlet scalar with 5 GeV width, both extended with vector-like fermions), we find that the resonance contribution to the 750 GeV excess can be enhanced by a factor of 2(1.6) for 3(6) fb signal rate and the 68%(95%) CL best-fit mass range can shift by 1-4 (any ${\cal O}$(1)) GeV. If the best-fit excess rate decreases with future data, the interference effects will become more significant. The inevitable interferences can also provide a consistency check of a resonance hypothesis, whether or not future precision shape measurements confirm a Breit-Wigner shape or discover interesting deviations.