Higgs Boson Search Sensitivity in the $H \to WW$ Dilepton Decay Mode at $\sqrt s = 7$ and 10 TeV

TL;DR

This study evaluates the Higgs boson discovery potential at 7 and 10 TeV energies at the LHC, focusing on the $H o WW$ dilepton decay mode through simulation and analysis of signal and background, providing sensitivity estimates and exclusion limits.

Contribution

It presents a detailed simulation-based analysis of Higgs search sensitivity at lower LHC energies, extending previous 14 TeV estimates to 7 and 10 TeV.

Findings

Expected 5σ discovery at 7 TeV with 8 fb⁻¹ for ATLAS

Expected 5σ discovery at 10 TeV with 3 fb⁻¹ for ATLAS

Exclusion of Higgs masses 160-180 GeV at 7 TeV with 1 fb⁻¹

Abstract

Prospects for discovery of the standard model Higgs boson are examined at center of mass energies of $7$ and $10$ TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. We perform a simulation of the signal and principal backgrounds for Higgs boson production and decay in the $W^+ W^-$ dilepton mode, finding good agreement with the ATLAS and CMS collaboration estimates of signal significance at 14 TeV for Higgs boson masses near $m_H = 160$~GeV. At the lower energy of $7$~TeV, using the same analysis cuts as these collaborations, we compute expected signal sensitivities of about $2$ standard deviations ($\sigma$'s) at $m_H = 160$~GeV in the ATLAS case, and about 3.6~$\sigma$ in the CMS case for $1$~fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity. Integrated luminosities of 8~$\rm{fb}^{-1}$ and 3~$\rm{fb}^{-1}$ are needed in the ATLAS case at $7$ and $10$~TeV, respectively, for $5~\sigma$ level discovery. In the CMS case, the numbers are 2~$\rm{fb}^{-1}$ and 1~$\rm{fb}^{-1}$ at $7$ and $10$~TeV. Our different stated expectations for the two experiments arise from the more restrictive analysis cuts in the CMS case. Recast as exclusion limits, our results show that with $1~{\rm fb}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity at 7~TeV, the LHC may be able to exclude $m_H$ values in the range 160 to 180~GeV provided no signal is seen.