Search for a heavy pseudoscalar boson decaying to a Z and a Higgs boson at $\sqrt{s}=13\,\text {Te}\text {V}$

A search is presented for a heavy pseudoscalar boson $$\text {A}$$ decaying to a Z  boson and a Higgs boson with mass of 125 $$\,\text {GeV}$$ . In the final state considered, the Higgs boson decays to a bottom quark and antiquark, and the Z  boson decays either into a pair of electrons, muons, or neutrinos. The analysis is performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 $$\,\text {fb}^{-1}$$ collected in 2016 by the CMS experiment at the LHC from proton–proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 $$\,\text {Te}\text {V}$$ . The data are found to be consistent with the background expectations. Exclusion limits are set in the context of two-Higgs-doublet models in the $$\text {A}$$ boson mass range between 225 and 1000 $$\,\text {GeV}$$ .