Limits on the production of the Standard Model Higgs Boson in pp collisions at sqrt(s) =7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for the Standard Model Higgs boson at 7 TeV using ATLAS data, setting upper limits on production cross sections and excluding certain mass ranges, with the highest sensitivity between 160-170 GeV.

Contribution

First combined analysis of multiple Higgs decay channels at 7 TeV with ATLAS, setting new exclusion limits and investigating models with a fourth generation of particles.

Findings

Excluded Higgs mass range 140-185 GeV for models with fourth-generation particles.

Achieved 95% CL exclusion sensitivity at 2.3 times the Standard Model cross section between 160-170 GeV.

Set upper limits on Higgs production cross sections across a broad mass range.

Abstract

A search for the Standard Model Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) running at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is reported, based on a total integrated luminosity of up to 40 pb^-1 collected by the ATLAS detector in 2010. Several Higgs boson decay channels: H -> {\gamma}{\gamma}, H -> ZZ (*) -> llll, H -> ZZ -> ll{\nu}{\nu}, H -> ZZ -> llqq, H -> W W (*) -> l{\nu}l{\nu} and H -> W W -> l{\nu}qq (l is e, {\mu}) are combined in a mass range from 110 GeV to 600 GeV. The highest sensitivity is achieved in the mass range between 160 GeV and 170 GeV, where the expected 95% CL exclusion sensitivity is at Higgs boson production cross sections 2.3 times the Standard Model prediction. Upper limits on the cross section for its production are determined. Models with a fourth generation of heavy leptons and quarks with Standard Model-like couplings to the Higgs boson are also investigated and are excluded for a Higgs boson mass in the range from 140 GeV to 185 GeV.