Search for Higgs boson production in association with b quarks at CMS in pp collisions

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for neutral Higgs bosons produced with b-quarks decaying into b-quark pairs, using CMS data from 2011, setting limits on production cross sections and interpreting results within the MSSM framework.

Contribution

First to develop dedicated on-line b-tagging triggers for fully hadronic events in this Higgs search at CMS.

Findings

Set model-independent upper limits on cross section times branching fraction.

Derived constraints on MSSM parameters, especially tanβ versus MA.

Used 7 TeV data with 2.7-4.0 fb^{-1} luminosity for the analysis.

Abstract

A search for neutral Higgs bosons produced in association with b-quark(s) and decaying into a pair of b-quarks is performed with the CMS detector at LHC. The Higgs boson signal is expected to emerge as an excess in the mass spectrum of two b-tagged jets. Dedicated triggers with on-line b-tagging in fully hadronic events were developed specifically for this kind of analysis. Limits on the cross section times branching fractions are derived model independently. The result was interpreted in the Minimal Supersymmetric Model (MSSM). Upper limits at $tan\beta$ are derived as a function of MA, the mass of the Higgs boson A. In the analysis presented here data taken in 2011 at 7 TeV are used corresponding to a total luminosity of $ L = 2.7 - 4.0 fb^{-1} $ for low and medium Higgs boson masses, respectively.