Search for the standard model Higgs boson produced through vector boson fusion and decaying to b ¯ b

Abstract

A first search is reported for a standard model Higgs boson ( H ) that is produced through vector boson fusion and decays to a bottom-quark pair. Two data samples, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 19.8 fb − 1 and 18.3 fb − 1 of proton-proton collisions at √ s = 8 TeV were selected for this channel at the CERN LHC. The observed significance in these data samples for a H → b ¯ b signal at a mass of 125 GeV is 2.2 standard deviations, while the expected significance is 0.8 standard deviations. The fitted signal strength μ = σ / σ SM = 2. 8 + 1.6 − 1.4 . The combination of this result with other CMS searches for the Higgs boson decaying to a b -quark pair yields a signal strength of 1.0 ± 0.4 , corresponding to a signal significance of 2.6 standard deviations for a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV.