Higgs physics at a future e+e- linear collider

This letter reviews the potential of a high luminosity e+e- linear collider (LC) in the precision study of the Higgs boson profile. The complementarity with the large hadron collider (LHC) Higgs physics program is briefly discussed. At the LC the Higgs mass can be best measured exploiting the kinematics in the Higgs-strahlung process: e+ e- → Z → ZH. Spin, parity and charge-conjugation quantum numbers of the Higgs boson can be determined in a model-independent way. At the LC the Higgs boson production and decay rates can be used to measure the Higgs couplings to gauge bosons and fermions. Several extensions of the SM model introduce additional Higgs doublets and singlets. A no loose theorem guarantees that in a general supersymmetric model embedded in a GUT scenario at least one Higgs boson will be observable at √s = 500 GeV with L = 500 fb-1. At the LHC the SM Higgs boson or at least one Higgs boson in the MSSM will be observed. Beyond its discovery a limited number of measurements of Higgs boson properties can be carried out at the LHC (mass, total width for a heavy Higgs boson, some ratios of couplings). The complementary of LC over LHC concerning the Higgs sector is threefold: first the accuracy of these measurements will be increased, secondly the absolute measurements of all the relevant Higgs boson couplings, including the Higgs self coupling, will be possible only at LC, and finally extended Higgs sector scenarios can be observed at LC closing the loopholes of a possible non-discovery at the LHC