Search for the associated production of the Higgs boson and a vector boson in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV via Higgs boson decays to $\tau$ leptons

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for the Higgs boson produced with a W or Z boson decaying to tau leptons, using CMS data at 13 TeV, and combines results to measure the signal strength and significance consistent with the standard model.

Contribution

It presents the first combined measurement of Higgs production with vector bosons decaying to tau leptons at 13 TeV, improving the precision of the signal strength estimate.

Findings

Measured signal strength μ = 1.24 with uncertainties

Observed significance of 5.5 standard deviations

Combined analysis with previous CMS results

Abstract

A search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a W or a Z boson and decaying a pair of $\tau$ leptons is performed. A data sample of proton-proton collisions collected at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC is used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The signal strength is measured relative to the expectation for the standard model Higgs boson, yielding $\mu =$ 2.5 $^{+1.4} _{-1.3}$. These results are combined with earlier CMS measurements targeting Higgs boson decays to a pair of $\tau$ leptons, performed with the same data set in the gluon fusion and vector boson fusion production modes. The combined signal strength is $\mu =$ 1.24 $^{+0.29} _{-0.27}$ (1.00 $^{+0.24} _{-0.23}$ expected), and the observed significance is 5.5 standard deviations (4.8 expected) for a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV.