Search for the standard model Higgs boson in associated $WH$ production in 9.7 fb$^{-1}$ of $p\bar{p}$ collisions with the D0 detector

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for the standard model Higgs boson in proton-antiproton collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron, focusing on associated production with a W boson and decay into b-quark jets, setting upper limits on production rates.

Contribution

First search for SM Higgs in associated WH production with b-jet final states using the D0 detector at Tevatron.

Findings

Observed data agrees with background expectations.

Set 95% CL upper limit of 5.2 times the SM prediction for a 125 GeV Higgs.

Expected limit was 4.7 times the SM prediction.

Abstract

We present a search for the standard model Higgs boson in final states with a charged lepton (electron or muon), missing transverse energy, and two or three jets, at least one of which is identified as a $b$-quark jet. The search is primarily sensitive to $WH\to\ell\nu b\bar{b}$ production and uses data corresponding to 9.7 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron $p\bar{p}$ Collider at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV. We observe agreement between data and the expected background. For a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV, we set a 95% C.L. upper limit on the production of a standard model Higgs boson of 5.2$\times\sigma_{\rm SM}$, where $\sigma_{\rm SM}$ is the standard model Higgs boson production cross section, while the expected limit is 4.7$\times\sigma_{\rm SM}$.