Reweighing the evidence for a light Higgs boson in dileptonic W boson decays

We reconsider observables for discovering and measuring the mass of a Higgs boson via its dileptonic decays h → W W* → ?ν?ν. We define an observable generalizing the transverse mass that takes into account the fact that one of the intermediate W bosons is likely to be on shell. We compare this new variable with existing ones and argue that it gives a significant improvement for discovery in the region mh < 2 mW.     

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     

Higgs boson searches at the Tevatron

This article reviews the Higgs searches at the Tevatron, as presented over the summer of 2012; both standard model (SM) and beyond the standard model (BSM) results are discussed as detailed (arXiv: 1207.0449; Phys. Rev. Lett., 2012, 109: 071804; Phys. Rev. D, 2012, 85: 032005). We discuss the combination of searches by the CDF and D0 Collaborations for the standard model Higgs boson in the mass range 100–200 GeV/c ² produced in the the gg → H, WH, ZH, t{ie27-1}H, and vector boson fusion production modes, and decaying in the H → b{ie27-2}, H → W ⁺ W ^?, H → ZZ, H → τ ⁺ τ ^?, and H → γγ modes. The data, collected at the Fermilab Tevatron collider in p{ie27-3} collisions at {ie27-4} TeV, correspond to integrated luminosities of up to 10 fb^?1. In the absence of signal, we expect to exclude the regions 100<m _H < 120 GeV/c ² and 139<m _H < 184 GeV/c ². We exclude, at the 95% C.L., two regions: 100<m _H < 103 GeV/c ², and 147<m _H < 180 GeV/c ². We observe a significant excess of events in the mass range between 115 and 140 GeV/c ². The local significance corresponds to 3.0 standard deviations at m _H = 120 GeV/c ²; the global significance (incorporating the look-elsewhere effect) for such an excess anywhere in the full mass range investigated is approximately 2.5 standard deviations. Furthermore, we separately combine searches for H → b{ie27-5}, H → W+W ^? and H → γγ. We find that the excess is concentrated in the H → b{ie27-6} channel, appearing in the searches over a broad range of m _H ; the maximum local significance of 3.3 standard deviations corresponds to a global significance of approximately 3.1 standard deviations. The observed signal strengths in all channels are consistent with the expectation for a standard model Higgs boson at m _H = 125 GeV/c ². The production of neutral Higgs bosons in association with b-quarks can be significantly enhanced in various beyond the standard model scenarios, including Supersymmetry. The recent combination of such searches from the two collaborations is discussed.     

SUSY background to neutral MSSM Higgs boson searches

Within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) the production and decay of superpartners can give rise to backgrounds for Higgs boson searches. Here MSSM background processes to the vector boson fusion channel with the Higgs boson decaying into two tau leptons or two W-bosons are investigated, giving rise to dilepton plus missing transverse momentum signals of the Higgs boson. Starting from a scenario with relatively small masses of the supersymmetric (SUSY) particles, with concomitant large cross section of the background processes, one obtains a first conservative estimate of the background. Light chargino pair production plus two jets, lightest and next-to-lightest neutralino production plus two jets as well as slepton pair production plus two jets are identified as important contributions to the irreducible SUSY background. Light chargino and next-to-lightest neutralino production plus two jets and next-to-lightest neutralino pair production plus two jets give rise to reducible backgrounds, which can be larger than the irreducible ones in some scenarios. The relevant distributions are shown and additional cuts for MSSM background reduction are discussed. Extrapolation to larger squark masses is performed and shows that MSSM backgrounds are quite small for squark masses at the current exclusion limits.     

Complete LEP data: Status of Higgs boson searches

The LEP experiments completed data taking in November 2000. New preliminary combined results of the four LEP experiments ALEPH, DELPHI, L3, and OPAL are presented for various Higgs boson searches.     

Higgs boson emission in very rare decays of an extra vector boson

We explore the phenomenological structure of E ₆-inspired grand unified group with the gauge group SU(3)_c×SU(2)_L×U(1)_Y×U(1), the emphasis being laid upon its implications for Higgs boson observation. In particular, we discuss the probability for the mass eigenstate Z ₂ to decay into a Higgs particle and a bound state composed of heavy quarks. Constraints on and relations between the Z ₂ and Higgs masses are presented.     

Two Higgs Doublet Model and model independent interpretation of neutral Higgs boson searches

Searches for the neutral Higgs bosons and are used to obtain limits on the Type II Two Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM(II)) with no CP–violation in the Higgs sector and no additional particles besides the five Higgs bosons. The analysis combines approximately 170 pb of data collected with the OPAL detector at GeV with previous runs at and GeV. The searches are sensitive to the and decay modes of the Higgs bosons. For the first time, the 2HDM(II) parameter space is explored in a detailed scan, and new flavour independent analyses are applied to examine regions in which the neutral Higgs bosons decay predominantly into light quarks or gluons. Model–independent limits are also given. Received: 11 July 2000 / Published online: 21 December 2000     

Prospects for Higgs boson searches at the Large Hadron Collider

These proceedings summarize the sensitivity for the CMS and ATLAS experiments at the LHC to discover a Standard Model Higgs boson with relatively low integrated luminosity per experiment. The most relevant discovery modes are dealt with. A brief discussion on the expected performance from these experiments in searches for one or more of the Higgs bosons from the minimal version of the supersymmetric theories is also included.      

Double production of vector quarkonia in exclusive Higgs boson decays

Partial widths with respect to the exclusive decays of Standard Model Higgs bosons to pairs of vector quarkonia, H → J/ψJ/ψ, H → YY, H → J/ψϕ, and H → J/ψY, were calculated with allowance for relativistic corrections associated with the internal motion of quarks in qarkonia.     

Higgs boson pair production via gluon fusion

We study pair production of Higgs bosons at hadron colliders via the gluon fusion process gg → HH. This process is dependent on the three-Higgs self-coupling. We find that this coupling is an important effect in determining the absolute size of the cross section. However, the shapes of the transverse momentum and the rapidity distributions are almost unaffected by its presence. At SSC energies we find cross sections in the range 1pb − 1fb, for Higgs boson masses of 50–250 GeV and top masses larger than 40 GeV. At LHC energies the cross sections are about a factor of five smaller.     

Six-quark decays of the Higgs boson in supersymmetry with R-parity violation

Both electroweak precision measurements and simple supersymmetric extensions of the standard model prefer a mass of the Higgs boson less than the experimental lower limit (on a standard-model-like Higgs boson) of 114 GeV. We show that supersymmetric models with R parity violation and baryon-number violation have a significant range of parameter space in which the Higgs boson dominantly decays to six jets. These decays are much more weakly constrained by current CERN LEP analyses and would allow for a Higgs boson mass near that of the Z. In general, lighter scalar quark and other superpartner masses are allowed. The Higgs boson would potentially be discovered at hadron colliders via the appearance of new displaced vertices.