Analysis strategy for the SM Higgs boson search in the four-lepton final state in CMS

TL;DR

This paper details the analysis strategy used in the CMS experiment to search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in the four-lepton decay channel, including background suppression, data-driven background estimation, and results from 1.66 fb^{-1} of data.

Contribution

It introduces specific selection cuts and background estimation algorithms for Higgs search in the four-lepton channel at CMS.

Findings

Excluded cross sections from 1 to 2 times the SM expectation for 150-420 GeV mass range.

No evidence of the SM Higgs boson was observed.

Set upper limits at 95% CL on Higgs production cross section.

Abstract

The current status of the searches for the SM Higgs boson in the $H$$\rightarrow$$ZZ^{(*)}$$\rightarrow$$4\ell$ decay channel with the CMS experiment is presented. The selection cuts for suppressing the backgrounds while keeping very high signal efficiencies are described, along with the data-driven algorithms implemented to estimate the background yields and the systematic uncertainties. With an integrated luminosity of $1.66 \mathrm{fb}^{-1}$, upper limits at 95% CL on the SM-like Higgs cross section $\times$ branching ratio exclude cross sections from about one to two times the expected value from the Standard Model in the range $150 < m_{H} < 420 \mathrm{GeV}$. No evidence for the existence of the SM Higgs boson has been found so far.