Exclusive $b \bar b$ pair production and irreducible background to the exclusive Higgs boson production

TL;DR

This paper calculates the cross section for exclusive $b\bar{b}$ production at the LHC, highlighting its role as an irreducible background to Higgs searches and analyzing how it affects signal detection.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed calculation of the $b\bar{b}$ background, including $Z^0$ and $\gamma\gamma$ contributions, crucial for Higgs boson search strategies.

Findings

Large cross sections (3-10 nb) for $b\bar{b}$ production.

Distribution analysis of invariant mass compared with Higgs decay.

Impact of experimental cuts on signal-to-background ratio.

Abstract

We calculated the cross section for the exclusive double diffractive $b\bar b$ production in $pp\to p(b\bar b)p$ reaction at LHC. Large cross sections are obtained (3 -- 10 nb). This process constitutes the irreducible background to the exclusive Higgs production and is of particular importance in the upcoming Higgs boson searches. The distribution in invariant mass of the $b \bar b$ pair is calculated and compared with the corresponding contribution from the Higgs decay. The contribution from the exclusive production of $Z^0$ and its decay as well as the contribution from the $\gamma \gamma \to b \bar b$ subprocess are also presented for the first time. The influence of cuts on the signal-to-background ratio is discussed.