Combined search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to bb̄ using the D0 run II data set

We present the results of the combination of searches for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a W or Z boson and decaying into bb̄ using the data sample collected with the D0 detector in pp̄ collisions at √s=1.96TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We derive 95% C.L. upper limits on the Higgs boson cross section relative to the standard model prediction in the mass range 100GeV≤M H≤150GeV, and we exclude Higgs bosons with masses smaller than 102 GeV at the 95% C.L. In the mass range 120GeV≤M H≤145GeV, the data exhibit an excess above the background prediction with a global significance of 1.5 standard deviations, consistent with the expectation in the presence of a standard model Higgs boson. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Keywords

Background prediction, Cross section, Data sample, Data sets, Fermilab Tevatron collider, Higgs boson, Standard deviation, Standard-model Higgs bosons, The standard model, Upper limits, Z Bosons, Tellurium compounds, Bosons