Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to bottom quarks in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into bottom quarks in proton-proton collisions at 7 TeV, using CMS data, but finds no significant signal and sets upper limits on production rates.

Contribution

First search for Higgs decaying to bottom quarks in association with vector bosons at 7 TeV using CMS data, establishing upper limits on production cross sections.

Findings

No significant excess observed above background.

Upper limits on VH production times H to bb vary from 3.4 to 7.5 times the SM prediction.

Expected limits range from 2.7 to 6.7 times the SM prediction.

Abstract

A search for the standard model Higgs boson (H) decaying to a b-quark pair when produced in association with weak vector bosons (V) is reported for the following modes: W(mu,nu)H, W(e,nu)H, Z(mu,mu)H, Z(e,e)H and Z(nu,nu)H. The search is performed in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 inverse femtobarns, recorded by the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at the LHC with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. No significant excess of events above the expectation from background is observed. Upper limits on the VH production cross section times the H to b-quark pair branching ratio, with respect to the expectations for a standard model Higgs boson, are derived for a Higgs boson in the mass range 110-135 GeV. In this range, the observed 95% confidence level upper limits vary from 3.4 to 7.5 times the standard model prediction; the corresponding expected limits vary from 2.7 to 6.7.