Search for a Neutral Higgs Boson Decaying to a W Boson Pair in ppbar Collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for the Standard Model Higgs boson decaying into W boson pairs in proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV, setting upper limits on production cross section without observing a signal.

Contribution

First search for Higgs to WW* decay in proton-antiproton collisions at this energy with specific leptonic final states, providing new upper limits on production cross section.

Findings

No significant excess observed over background.

Set 95% CL upper limits on cross section from 3.2 to 5.5 pb.

Limits constrain possible Higgs boson production at this energy.

Abstract

We present the results of a search for standard model Higgs boson production with decay to WW*, identified through the leptonic final states e+ e- nubar nu ,e mu nubar nu and mu+ mu- nubbar nu. This search uses 360 pb-1 of data collected from p pbar collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV by the upgraded Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF II). We observe no signal excess and set 95% confidence level upper limits on the production cross section times branching ratio for the Higgs boson to WW* or any new scalar particle with similar decay products. These upper limits range from 5.5 to 3.2 pb for Higgs boson masses between 120 and 200 GeV/c2.