Multiphoton signals of a (96 GeV?) stealth boson

Cascade decays of new scalars into final states with multiple photons and possibly quarks may lead to distinctive experimental signatures at high-energy colliders. Such signals are even more striking if the scalars are highly boosted, as when produced from the decay of a much heavier resonance. We study this type of events within the framework of the minimal stealth boson model, an anomaly-free $$\text {U}(1)_{Y'}$$ extension of the Standard Model with two complex scalar singlets. It is shown that, while those signals may have cross sections that might render them observable with LHC Run 2 data, they have little experimental coverage. We also establish a connection with a CMS excess observed in searches for new scalars decaying into diphoton final states near 96 GeV. In particular, we conclude that the predicted multiphoton signatures are compatible with such excess.