Beyond 6: the role of dimension-8 operators in an EFT for the 2HDM

The Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) is the tool of choice for studying deviations of Higgs couplings from the Standard Model predictions. The SMEFT is an expansion in an infinite tower of higher dimension operators, which is typically truncated at dimension-6. We consider the effective theory including dimension-8 operators and examine the matching to the 2 Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM) that is assumed to be valid at some high scale. Both the limits from the direct production of single Higgs bosons and the indirect limits on the Higgs tri-linear coupling are considered in the context of the SMEFT matched to the 2HDM, and the importance of the assumptions about the expansions in powers of the high scale are examined numerically.
Comment: 25 pages