Inclusive search for standard model higgs boson production in the ww decay channel using the CDF II detector

Abstract

The search for the Standard Model Higgs boson at the Tevatron has been highly successful in driving the first Higgs exclusions since LEP. This search by CDF is performed using the full Run II dataset and looks specifically into the Higgs to W +W - final state of two charged leptons (e, µ) and two neutrinos from the collision of proton-antiproton pairs at s = 1.96 TeV. To maximize signal acceptance, events with same-sign dileptons and trileptons are included as separate regions to account for associated Higgs production with a Z or W boson and for Higgs production via vector boson fusion. Additionally, events with low dilepton invariant mass and events with hadronic taus further increase the signal acceptance. The search excludes at the 95% confidence level a Standard Model Higgs boson in the mass range between 148 GeV/c2 and 175 GeV/c2 and is also one of the main contributors to the Tevatron's sensitivity to the low mass Standard Model Higgs boson.