Vector Boson Fusion Production of the Standard Model Higgs at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper discusses the potential for measuring Higgs boson production via vector boson fusion at the LHC, focusing on decay channels and early search strategies with CMS, to improve understanding of Higgs couplings.

Contribution

It presents a new comprehensive strategy for Higgs boson detection and systematic control in VBF production at the LHC, including early search methods at low luminosity.

Findings

Expected significance above 2 sigma for H->gammagamma at 115-140 GeV

Expected significance above 3 sigma for H->tautau at 115-140 GeV

Discovery potential above 5 sigma for H->WW at 140-200 GeV

Abstract

The cross section measurements of the Higgs boson production in the vector boson fusion (VBF) process at the LHC followed by a Higgs boson decay into tautau, WW and gamma gamma will significantly extend the possibility of Higgs boson coupling measurements. Prospective analyses with the CMS experiment are discussed for the H-> gammagamma, WW and tautau decay channels for an integrated LHC luminosity of 30 fb-1. For a Higgs boson mass in the range 115 to 140 GeV, an observation with a significance above 2 standard deviations is expected in the H to gammagamma channel, and above 3 standard deviations in the H to tautau channel. The H to WW channel offers a discovery reach above 5 sigma in the mass range 140 to 200 GeV. A new complete strategy is presented for the control of systematics and early searches at very low luminosities of the order of 1 fb-1.