Search for flavour-changing neutral tqH interactions with H → γγ in pp collisions at (Formula presented.) TeV using the ATLAS detector

A search for flavour-changing neutral interactions involving the top quark, the Higgs boson and an up-type quark q (q = c, u) is presented. The proton-proton collision data set used, with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb⁻¹, was collected at (Formula presented.) TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Both the decay process t → qH in tt¯ production and the production process pp → tH, with the Higgs boson decaying into two photons, are investigated. No significant excess is observed and upper limits are set on the t → cH and the t → uH branching ratios of 4.3 × 10⁻⁴ and 3.8 × 10⁻⁴, respectively, at the 95% confidence level, while the expected limits in the absence of signal are 4.7 × 10⁻⁴ and 3.9 × 10⁻⁴. Combining this search with ATLAS searches in the H → τ⁺τ⁻ and H → bb¯ final states yields observed (expected) upper limits on the t → cH branching ratio of 5.8 × 10⁻⁴ (3.0 × 10⁻⁴) at the 95% confidence level. The corresponding observed (expected) upper limit on the t → uH branching ratio is 4.0 × 10⁻⁴ (2.4 × 10⁻⁴).