Search for the lepton flavor violating decay tau -> 3 mu in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

Abstract

Results are reported from a search for the lepton flavor violating decay tau -> 3 mu in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 33.2 fb(-1) recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016. The search exploits tau leptons produced in both W boson and heavy-flavor hadron decays. No significant excess above the expected background is observed. An upper limit on the branching fraction B(tau -> 3 mu) of 8.0 x 10(-8) at 90% confidence level is obtained, with an expected upper limit of 6.9 x 10(-8).