Searches for Low Mass Higgs Boson at the Tevatron

TL;DR

This paper reports on the search for a low mass Standard Model Higgs boson at the Tevatron collider, combining results from multiple channels to improve sensitivity and constrain models.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of Higgs search channels at the Tevatron, including new combined sensitivity limits and constraints on exotic models.

Findings

Sensitivity less than 5 times the SM cross section at 115 GeV/c^2

Exclusion of a production cross section of 2.3 times the SM expectation

Secondary channels contribute to constraining exotic Higgs models

Abstract

We present the result of the searches for a low mass Standard Model Higgs boson performed at the Tevatron ppbar collider (sqrt(s) =1.96 TeV) by the CDF and D0 experiments with an integrated luminosity of up to 8.5 fb^-1. Individual searches are discussed and classified according to their sensitivity. Primary channels rely on the associate production with a vector boson (WH or ZH) and the H->bbbar decay channel (favored for M_H<135 GeV/c^2). Event selection is based on the leptonic decay of the vector boson and the identification of b-hadron enriched jets. Each individual channel is sensitive, for M_H=115 GeV/c^2, to less than 5 times the SM expected cross section and the most sensitive channels can exclude a production cross section of 2.3 x sigma_H SM. Secondary channels rely on a variety of final states. Although they are from 2 to 5 times less sensitive than any primary channel, they contribute to the Tevatron combination and, in some cases, they pose strong constrains on exotic Higgs boson models.