Search for neutral Higgs bosons in Z0 decays using the OPAL detector at LEP

A search for neutral Higgs bosons has been performed using the full sample of Z⁰ decays collected by the OPAL detector at LEP up to 1995. The data were taken at centre-of-mass energies between 88 GeV and 95 GeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of approximately 160 pb^?1. The present search addresses the processes Z⁰→H⁰Z* and h⁰Z*, where H⁰ is the Higgs boson predicted by the Standard Model and h⁰ the lightest neutral scalar Higgs boson predicted in the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. For the virtual Z⁰ boson, Z*, the following decay channels are considered: Z*→vv?, e⁺e^? and μ⁺μ^?. Two candidate events have been found in the vv?H⁰ channel and one in the μ⁺μ^?H⁰ channel. Combined with earlier searches, the present search excludes the SM Higgs boson, at the 95% confidence level (CL), from the mass range below 59.6 GeV. In the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, allowing a wide range of variation for most relevant model parameters, a 95% CL lower limit of 44.3 GeV is obtained for the mass of the h⁰ boson. Combined with earlier direct searches for the Higgs boson pair production process Z⁰→h⁰A⁰ and with measurements of the Z⁰ line shape, a 95% CL lower limit of 23.5 GeV is obtained for the mass of the pseudoscalar Higgs boson A⁰, assuming tan β≥ 1.     

Searches for invisibly decaying Higgs bosonswith the DELPHI detector at LEP

Searches for H Z production with the Higgs boson decaying into an invisible final state were performed using the data collected by the DELPHI experiment at centre-of-mass energies between 188 GeV and 209 GeV. Both hadronic and leptonic final states of the Z boson were analysed. In addition to the search for a heavy Higgs boson, a dedicated search for a light Higgs boson down to 40 GeV/c² was performed. No signal was found. Assuming the Standard Model HZ production cross-section, the mass limit for invisibly decaying Higgs bosons is 112.1 GeV/c² at 95% confidence level. An interpretation in the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) and in a Majoron model is also given.Received: 2 September 2003, Revised: 10 November 2003, Published online: 15 January 2004     

Search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the OPAL detector at LEP

This paper summarises the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in e ⁺ e ^- collisions at centre-of-mass energies up to 209 GeV performed by the OPAL Collaboration at LEP. The consistency of the data with the background hypothesis and various Higgs boson mass hypotheses is examined. No indication of a signal is found in the data and a lower bound of 112.7 Gev/c² is obtained on the mass of the Standard Model Higgs boson at the 95% CL. Received: 13 March 2002 / Revised version: 9 October 2002 / Published online: 13 December 2002     

Search for invisibly decaying Higgs boson at Large Hadron Collider

In several scenarios of Beyond Standard Model physics, the invisible decay mode of the Higgs boson is an interesting possibility. The search strategy for an invisible Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), using weak boson fusion process, has been studied in detail, by taking into account all possible backgrounds. Realistic simulations have been used in the context of CMS experiment to devise a set of event selection criteria which eventually enhances the signal contribution compared to the background processes in characteristic distributions. In cut-based analysis, multi-jet background is found to overwhelm the signal in the finally selected sample. With an integrated luminosity of 10 fb⁻¹, an upper limit of 36% on the branching ratio can be obtained for Higgs boson with a mass of 120 GeV/c² for LHC energy of 14 TeV. Since the analysis essentially depends on the background estimation, detailed studies have been done to determine the background rates from real data.     

Search for neutral MSSM Higgs bosons at LEP

The four LEP collaborations, ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL, have searched for the neutral Higgs bosons which are predicted by the Minimal Supersymmetric standard model (MSSM). The data of the four collaborations are statistically combined and examined for their consistency with the background hypothesis and with a possible Higgs boson signal. The combined LEP data show no significant excess of events which would indicate the production of Higgs bosons. The search results are used to set upper bounds on the cross-sections of various Higgs-like event topologies. The results are interpreted within the MSSM in a number of “benchmark” models, including CP-conserving and CP-violating scenarios. These interpretations lead in all cases to large exclusions in the MSSM parameter space. Absolute limits are set on the parameter cosβ and, in some scenarios, on the masses of neutral Higgs bosons.     

Search for charged Higgs bosons at LEP 2

A search for pair produced charged Higgs bosons has been performed in the high energy data collected by DELPHI at LEP with , 172 and 183 GeV. The analysis uses the τντν, and final states and a combination of event shape variables, di-jet masses and jet flavour tagging for the separation of a possible signal from the dominant W⁺W⁻ and QCD backgrounds. The number of selected events has been found to be compatible with the expected background. The lower excluded value of the H^± mass obtained by varying the H^±→ hadrons decay branching ratio has been found to be 56.3 GeV/c².     

Decay-mode independent searches for new scalar bosons with the OPAL detector at LEP

This paper describes topological searches for neutral scalar bosons S⁰ produced in association with a Z⁰ boson via the Bjorken process at centre-of-mass energies of 91 GeV and 183-209 GeV. These searches are based on studies of the recoil mass spectrum of and events and on a search for with and S or photons. They cover the decays of the S⁰ into an arbitrary combination of hadrons, leptons, photons and invisible particles as well as the possibility that it might be stable. No indication for a signal is found in the data and upper limits on the cross section of the Bjorken process are calculated. Cross-section limits are given in terms of a scale factor k with respect to the Standart Model cross section for the Higgs-strahlung process . These results can be interpreted in general scenarios independently of the decay modes of the S⁰. The examples considered here are the production of a single new scalar particle with a decay width smaller than the detector mass resolution, and for the first time, two scenarios with continuous mass distributions, due to a single very broad state or several states close in mass. Received: 13 March 2002 / Published online: 19 February 2003     

Search for charged Higgs bosons at LEP in general two Higgs doublet models

A search for pair-produced charged Higgs bosons was performed in the data collected by the DELPHI detector at LEP II at centre-of-mass energies from 189 GeV to 209 GeV. Five different final states, , , , and were considered, accounting for the major expected decays in type I and type II Two Higgs Doublet Models. No significant excess of data compared to the expected Standard Model processes was observed. The existence of a charged Higgs boson with mass lower than 76.7 GeV/c² (type I) or 74.4 GeV/c² (type II) is excluded at the 95% confidence level, for a wide range of the model parameters. Model independent cross-section limits have also been calculated.Received: 30 September 2003, Revised: 12 February 2004, Published online: 8 April 2004     

Heavy Higgs bosons at LEP

Production of a heavy Weinberg-Salam-type neutral Higgs boson at LEP energies is considered. We conclude that the Higgs is unlikely to be detected at LEP if its mass is greater than 150 GeV.     

Search for Higgs bosons decaying to WW in e+e- collisions at LEP

A search for Higgs bosons produced in association with a fermion pair, and decaying to WW, is performed with the data collected by the ALEPH detector at centre-of-mass energies ranging from 191 to 209 GeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 453.2 pb^-1. Thirteen exclusive selections are developed according to the different final state topologies. No statistically significant evidence for a Higgs boson decaying into a WW pair has been found. An upper limit is derived, as a function of the Higgs boson mass, on the product of the e⁺e^-→Hff̄ cross section and the H→WW branching ratio. The data on the search for H→WW are combined with previously published ALEPH results on the search for H→γγ, to significantly extend the limits on the mass of a fermiophobic Higgs boson.     

Search for fermiophobic Higgs bosons in final states with photons at LEP 2

Higgs boson production with subsequent decay to photons was searched for in the data collected by the DELPHI detector at centre-of-mass energies between 183 GeV and 209 GeV, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of nearly 650 pb^-1. No evidence for a signal was found, and limits were set on h ⁰ Z ⁰ and h ⁰ A ⁰ production with h ⁰ decay to photons. These results were used to exclude regions in the parameter space of fermiophobic scenarios of Two Higgs Doublet Models.     

Search for Higgs bosons decaying to tau pairs in pp over collisions with the D0 detector

We present a search for the production of neutral Higgs bosons varphi decaying into tau+tau - final states in pp over collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 1 fb(-1), were collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Limits on the production cross section times branching ratio are set. The results are interpreted in the minimal supersymmetric standard model yielding limits that are the most stringent to date at hadron colliders.     

Search for a low mass CP-odd Higgs boson in $\mathrm{e^+e^-}$ collisions with the OPAL detector at LEP2

We have analysed the data collected by OPAL at centre-of-mass energies between 189 and 209 GeV searching for Higgs boson candidates from the process followed by the decay of where is the CP-odd Higgs boson. The search is done in the region where the mass, , is below the production threshold for , and the CP-even Higgs boson mass is within the range 45-86 GeV/c ² . In this kinematic range, the decay of may be dominant and previous Higgs boson searches have very small sensitivities. This search can be interpreted within any model that predicts the existence of at least one scalar and one pseudoscalar Higgs boson. No excess of events is observed above the expected Standard Model backgrounds. Model-independent limits on the cross-section for the process are derived assuming 100% decays of the into and 100% decays of the into each of the following final states: , , , , and . The results are also interpreted in the CP-conserving no-mixing MSSM scenario, where the region and is excluded. Received: 13 March 2002 / Published online: 26 February 2003     

Search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the CMS detector

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The analysis is performed on a dataset corresponding to 1.66 fb^?1 of data recorded in 2011 by the CMS experiment. Limits are set on the cross-section of a Standard Model Higgs boson decaying into two photons, and on the cross-section of a fermiophobic Higgs boson decaying into two photons.     

Search for an LSP gluino at LEP with the DELPHI detector

In some supersymmetric models, the gluino () is predicted to be light and stable. In that case, it would hadronize to form R-hadrons. In these models, the missing energy signature of the lightest supersymmetric particle is no longer valid, even if R-parity is conserved. Therefore, such a gluino is not constrained by hadron collider results, which looked for the decay . Data collected by the DELPHI detector in 1994 at 91.2 GeV have been analysed to search for events. No deviation from Standard Model predictions is observed and a gluino mass between 2 and 18 GeV/c² is excluded at the 95% confidence level in these models. Then, R-hadrons produced in the squark decays were searched for in the data collected by DELPHI at the centre-of-mass energies of 189 to 208 GeV, corresponding to an overall integrated luminosity of 609 Pb^-1. The observed number of events is in agreement with the Standard Model predictions. Limits at 95% confidence level are derived on the squark masses from the excluded regions in the plane () GeV/c², and GeV/c² for purely left squarks. GeV/c², and GeV/c² independent of the mixing angle. Received: 6 November 2002 / Published online: 15 January 2003     

Search for W' bosons decaying to an electron and a neutrino with the D0 detector

This Letter describes the search for a new heavy charged gauge boson W' decaying into an electron and a neutrino. The data were collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron pp[over] Collider at sqrt[s]=1.96 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of about 1 fb(-1). Lacking any significant excess in the data in comparison with known processes, an upper limit is set on sigma_(W') x B(W')-->e nu), and a W' boson with mass below 1.00 TeV can be excluded at the 95% C.L., assuming standard-model-like couplings to fermions. This result significantly improves upon previous limits and is the most stringent to date.     

Search for Higgs Bosons at LEP2 and Hadron Colliders

The search for the Higgs boson was one of the most relevant issues of the final years of LEP running at high energies. An excess of 3σ beyond the background expectation has been found, consistent with the production of the Higgs boson with a mass near 115 GeV/c². At the upgraded TeVatron and at LHC the search for the Higgs boson will continue. At TeVatron Higgs bosons can be detected with masses up to 180 GeV with an assumed total integrated luminosity of 20 fb^—1. LHC has the potential to discover the Higgs boson in many different decay channels for Higgs masses up to 1 TeV. It will be possible to measure Higgs boson parameters, such as mass, width, and couplings to fermions and bosons. The results from Higgs searches at LEP2 and the possibilities for searches at hadron colliders will be reviewed.