Search for the standard model Higgs boson produced through vector boson fusion and decaying to bb̄

A first search is reported for a standard model Higgs boson (H) that is produced through vector boson fusion and decays to a bottom-quark pair. Two data samples, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 19.8 inverse femtobarns and 18.3 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collisions at √ s = 8 TeV were selected for this channel at the CERN LHC. The observed significance in these data samples for a H to b bbar signal at a mass of 125 GeV is 2.2 standard deviations, while the expected significance is 0.8 standard deviations. The fitted signal strength μ = σ/σSM = 2.8 + 1.6 1.4. The combination of this result with other CMS searches for the Higgs boson decaying to a b-quark pair, yields a signal strength of 1.0± 0.4, corresponding to a signal significance of 2.6 standard deviations for a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.92.032008 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-122858 Published Version Originally published at: CMS Collaboration; Khachatryan, V; Sirunyan, A M; Tumasyan, A; Aarrestad, T K; Amsler, C; Caminada, L; Canelli, F; Chiochia, V; De Cosa, A; Galloni, C; Hinzmann, A; Hreus, T; Kilminster, B; Lange, C; Ngadiuba, J; Pinna, D; Robmann, P; Ronga, F J; Salerno, D; Taroni, S; Yang, Y; et al (2015). Search for the standard model Higgs boson produced through vector boson fusion and decaying to bb̄. Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology), 92:032008. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.92.032008 Search for the standard model Higgs boson produced through vector boson fusion and decaying to bb̄ V. Khachatryan et al. (CMS Collaboration) (Received 2 June 2015; published 27 August 2015) A first search is reported for a standard model Higgs boson (H) that is produced through vector boson fusion and decays to a bottom-quark pair. Two data samples, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 19.8 fb−1 and 18.3 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at ffiffi s p 1⁄4 8 TeV were selected for this channel at the CERN LHC. The observed significance in these data samples for aH → bb̄ signal at a mass of 125 GeV is 2.2 standard deviations, while the expected significance is 0.8 standard deviations. The fitted signal strength μ 1⁄4 σ=σSM 1⁄4 2.8þ1.6 −1.4 . The combination of this result with other CMS searches for the Higgs boson decaying to a b-quark pair yields a signal strength of 1.0 0.4, corresponding to a signal significance of 2.6 standard deviations for a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.92.032008 PACS numbers: 14.80.Bn