Vector boson decays of the Higgs boson

We derive the width of the Higgs boson into vector bosons. General formulas are derived both for the on–shell decay as well for the off–shell decays, and , where . For the off-shell decays the width of the decaying vector boson is properly included. The formulas are valid both for the Standard Model as well as for arbitrary extensions. As an example we study in detail the gauge-invariant effective Lagrangian models where we can have sizable enhancements over the Standard Model that could be observed at LEP. Received: 31 July 1998 / Revised version: 23 September 1998 / Published online: 6 November 1998