Combined CDF and D0 Searches for the Standard Model Higgs Boson Decaying to Two Photons with up to 8.2 fb^-1

TL;DR

This paper combines results from CDF and D0 experiments at Fermilab to search for the Standard Model Higgs boson decaying into two photons, setting upper limits on production cross sections in the mass range 100-150 GeV/c^2.

Contribution

It presents the first combined search for H→γγ at the Tevatron, providing more stringent limits using up to 8.2 fb^-1 of data.

Findings

95% CL upper limit is 10.5 times the SM prediction at 115 GeV/c^2

No significant excess observed in the γγ decay channel

Results constrain Higgs production cross section in the studied mass range

Abstract

We combine results from CDF and D0's direct searches for the standard model (SM) Higgs boson (H) produced in ppbar collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV, focusing on the decay H\rightarrow\gamma\gamma. We compute upper limits on the Higgs boson production cross section times the decay branching fraction in the range 100<m_H<150 GeV/c^2, and we interpret the results in the context of the standard model. We use the MSTW08 parton distribution functions and the latest theoretical cross section predictions when testing for the presence of a SM Higgs boson. With datasets corresponding to 7.0 fb-1 (CDF) and 8.2 fb-1 (D0), the 95% C.L. upper limits on Higgs boson production is a factor of 10.5 times the SM cross section for a Higgs boson mass of 115 GeV/c^2.