Search for the pair production of Higgsinos in pp collisions at $\sqrt s = 13~\mathrm{TeV}$ in final states with Higgs bosons and large missing transverse momentum

Results are reported from a search for new physics in proton-proton collisions leading to an experimental signature with two Higgs bosons and large missing momentum in the direction transverse to the beam axis. This signature can arise in the context of supersymmetry, where a broad class of models predicts the electroweak production of a pair of Higgsinos, each of which can decay via a cascade process to a final state with a Higgs boson and the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). The LSPs remain undetected, producing the large missing transverse momentum characteristic for these events. The search uses a $35.9~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ sample of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt s=13~\mathrm{TeV}$, accumulated by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The observed event yield in the signal region is found to be consistent with the expected standard model background predicted from control regions in the data. Higgsinos with mass in the range $225-770~\mathrm{GeV}$ are excluded at $95\%$ CL using a simplified model framework for the production and decay of approximately degenerate Higgsinos in the context of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking.