Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to bottom quarks in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

Abstract

A search for the standard model Higgs boson (H) decaying to (b) over barb when produced in association with weak vector bosons (V) is reported for the following modes: W(mu nu)H, W(e nu)H, Z(mu mu)H, Z(ee)H and Z(nu nu)H. The search is performed in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb(-1), recorded by the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at the LHC with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. No significant excess of events above the expectation from background is observed. Upper limits on the VH production cross section times the H -> b (b) over bar branching ratio, with respect to the expectations for a standard model Higgs boson, are derived for a Higgs boson in the mass range 110-135 GeV. In this range, the observed 95% confidence level upper limits vary from 3.4 to 7.5 times the standard model prediction; the corresponding expected limits vary from 2.7 to 6.7 times the standard model prediction. (C) 2012 CERN. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.