QED radiative corrections and their impact on $$H \rightarrow \tau \tau $$ H → τ τ searches at the LHC

In this paper we show that the excess of the $$ \tau \tau $$ events with respect to the Standard Model background predictions, observed by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations and interpreted as the evidence of the Higgs-boson decay into a pair of $$\tau $$ -leptons, may be accounted for by properly taking into account QED radiative corrections in the modelling of the $$Z/\gamma ^* \rightarrow \tau \tau $$ background.