Combined search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to b bbar using the D0 Run II data set

TL;DR

This paper combines search results from the D0 experiment for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into b bbar, setting upper limits on its production and observing a slight excess around 120-145 GeV.

Contribution

It provides the first combined analysis of Higgs searches in the b bbar decay channel at the Tevatron, improving sensitivity over individual analyses.

Findings

Excluded Higgs masses below 102 GeV at 95% CL.

Set upper limits on Higgs production cross section.

Observed a 1.5 sigma excess between 120-145 GeV.

Abstract

We present the results of the combination of searches for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a W or Z boson and decaying into b bbar using the data sample collected with the D0 detector in p pbar collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We derive 95% CL upper limits on the Higgs boson cross section relative to the standard model prediction in the mass range 100 GeV <= M_H <= 150 GeV, and we exclude Higgs bosons with masses smaller than 102 GeV at the 95% CL. In the mass range 120 GeV <= M_H <= 145 GeV the data exhibit an excess above the background prediction with a global significance of 1.5 standard deviations, consistent with the expectation in the presence of a standard model Higgs boson.