Reconstructing the Higgs boson in dileptonic W decays at hadron collider

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method using the MAOS momentum variable to reconstruct the Higgs boson mass in dileptonic W decays at hadron colliders, improving measurement accuracy and aiding discovery efforts.

Contribution

It introduces a modified MAOS momentum technique applicable to off-shell W-bosons, demonstrating its effectiveness in Higgs mass reconstruction and potential for Higgs discovery or exclusion.

Findings

MAOS Higgs mass distribution peaks at true mass with appropriate event cuts

Likelihood analysis enhances Higgs mass measurement precision

Method aids in Higgs discovery or exclusion in specific mass ranges

Abstract

We examine the prospect to measure the Higgs boson mass using the recently introduced kinematic variable, the M_T2-Assisted On-Shell (MAOS) momentum, that provides a systematic approximation to the invisible neutrino momenta in dileptonic decays of W-boson pair. For this purpose, we introduce a modified version of the MAOS momentum, that is applicable even when one or both of the W-bosons from the Higgs decay are in off-shell. It is demonstrated that the MAOS Higgs mass distribution, constructed with the MAOS neutrino momenta, shows a clear peak at the true Higgs boson mass when an event cut selecting higher value of M_T2 is employed. We perform the likelihood analysis for this MAOS mass distribution to determine the Higgs boson mass, and find it can improve the accuracy of the Higgs mass measurement. Our results indicate that the MAOS Higgs mass can be useful also for the discovery or exclusion of the Higgs boson in certain mass range.