Search for a Standard Model Higgs boson in the H -> ZZ -> llnunu decay channel using 4.7 fb-1 of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV data with the ATLAS detector

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for a Standard Model Higgs boson decaying into ZZ to llnunu using 7 TeV collision data, setting limits and excluding certain mass ranges at 95% confidence level.

Contribution

First search for H -> ZZ -> llnunu decay channel using ATLAS data at 7 TeV, providing new exclusion limits for Higgs boson masses between 200 and 600 GeV.

Findings

No significant excess observed over background.

Excluded Higgs boson masses between 319 and 558 GeV at 95% CL.

Set upper limits on Higgs production cross section.

Abstract

A search for a heavy Standard Model Higgs boson decaying via H -> ZZ -> llnunu, where l represents electrons or muons, is presented. It is based on proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC during 2011 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb^-1. The data agree with the expected Standard Model backgrounds. Upper limits on the Higgs boson production cross section are derived for Higgs boson masses between 200 GeV and 600 GeV and the production of a Standard Model Higgs boson with a mass in the range 319 - 558 GeV is excluded at the 95% confidence level.