A Search for Higgs Boson Production Via Vector Boson Fusion in Association with a Photon in the H & Rarr ; B B Channel with the Atlas Detector

A Search for Higgs Boson Production Via Vector Boson Fusion in Association with a Photon in the H & Rarr ; B B Channel with the Atlas Detector
Author: Peyton Wells Rose
Publisher:
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2016
Genre:
ISBN: 9781369491838

A search for the Standard Model Higgs boson produced via vector boson fusion in association with a photon and decaying to a bottom quark-antiquark pair has been conducted using 12.6 fb--1 of proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at a center-of-mass energy [sqrt] s =13TeV at the LHC in 2015 and 2016. The search benefits from a large reduction of the non-resonant multijet background relative to similar searches that do not explicitly require a photon and from efficient triggering aided by the presence of the photon. Multivariate techniques trained using simulated Monte Carlo samples are used to enhance the sensitivity of the analysis by constructing regions of phase space with higher expected signal fractions relative to the background. Data-driven techniques are used in those regions to provide a reliable estimate of the di-b-jet invariant mass spectrum of the non-resonant background. The final statistical analysis of the data relies on a profile likelihood fit to the di-b-jet invariant mass distribution, searching for a signal bump in an otherwise smoothly falling distribution. There is no observed excess above the background-only expectation, and the observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limit on the production cross section times branching ratio for a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV is 4.0 (6.0+2.3--1.7) times the Standard Model expectation. The observed signal strength is --3.9 +2.8--2.7 times the Standard Model value. This analysis is also sensitive to Z + gamma production: the observed (expected) upper limit is 2.0 (1.8+0.7-0.5) times the Standard Model expectation with an observed signal strength of 0.3+/-0.8.

Search of the Higgs Boson Produced Through Vector Boson Fusion Decaying to a Pair of Bb with the ATLAS Detector

Search of the Higgs Boson Produced Through Vector Boson Fusion Decaying to a Pair of Bb with the ATLAS Detector
Author: Zihao Jiang
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2019
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ISBN:

This thesis presents the search of the Higgs boson produced by Vector Boson Fusion (VBF) and decaying to bottom quarks. A search using the ATLAS detector was performed with 2016 proton-proton collision data. The multi-variate analysis measured the signal strengths of both the inclusive Higgs production and the vector-boson fusion production relative to the Standard Model prediction. This analysis led to the observation of Higgs coupling to b-quarks in the summer of 2018. Furthermore, potential improvements of the analysis techniques using complex neural networks are investigated. In order to understand better the Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) backgrounds of the Higgs search, the characteristic variables of the gluon splitting vertex are measured.

Search for Resonant Pair Production of Higgs Bosons in the Bb ̄bb ̄ Final State Using Pp Collisions at S

Search for Resonant Pair Production of Higgs Bosons in the Bb ̄bb ̄ Final State Using Pp Collisions at S
Author: [Study Group] ATLAS Collaboration CERN
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022
Genre:
ISBN:

Abstract: A search for resonant Higgs boson pair production in the b ̄bb ̄b final state is presented. The analysis uses 126 fb−1-139 fb−1 of pp collision data at √s=13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis is divided into two channels, targeting Higgs boson decays which are reconstructed as pairs of small-radius jets or as individual large-radius jets. Spin-0 and spin-2 benchmark signal models are considered, both of which correspond to resonant HH production via gluon-gluon fusion. The data are consistent with Standard Model predictions. Upper limits are set on the production cross section times branching ratio to Higgs boson pairs of a new resonance in the mass range from 251 GeV to 5 TeV

Searches for Higgs Boson Pair Production in the Hh{u2192}bb??, ??WW*, ??bb, Bbbb Channels with the ATLAS Detector

Searches for Higgs Boson Pair Production in the Hh{u2192}bb??, ??WW*, ??bb, Bbbb Channels with the ATLAS Detector
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2015
Genre:
ISBN:

Searches for both resonant and nonresonant Higgs boson pair production are performed in the hh → bb??, ??WW* final states using 20.3 fb-1 of pp collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No evidence of their production is observed and 95% confidence-level upper limits on the production cross sections are set. These results are then combined with the published results of the hh → ??bb, bbbb analyses. An upper limit of 0.69 (0.47) pb on the nonresonant hh production is observed (expected), corresponding to 70 (48) times the SM gg → hh cross section. For production via narrow resonances, cross-section limits of hh production from a heavy Higgs boson decay are set as a function of the heavy Higgs boson mass. The observed (expected) limits range from 2.1 (1.1) pb at 260 GeV to 0.011 (0.018) pb at 1000 GeV. In addition, these results are interpreted in the context of two simplified scenarios of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model.

Evidence for the Production of the Standard Model Higgs Boson Produced Via Vector Boson Fusion in the WW* Channel at the ATLAS Detector

Evidence for the Production of the Standard Model Higgs Boson Produced Via Vector Boson Fusion in the WW* Channel at the ATLAS Detector
Author: Koos van Nieuwkoop
Publisher:
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2017
Genre:
ISBN:

In 2012, the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider announced they had each observed a new particle with a mass of about 125 GeV/c^2. Given the available data, the properties of this particle are consistent with the Higgs boson predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics (SM). The Higgs boson, as proposed within the SM, is the simplest manifestation of the Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism. This discovery was driven by the gluon fusion (ggF) production mode, the dominant Higgs boson production mechanism at the LHC. The SM also predicts that the Higgs boson can be produced by the fusion of two weak vector bosons (VBF). Measuring VBF Higgs boson production is an important test of the SM but it is challenging to measure given its cross section is an order of magnitude smaller than that of ggF. After H->bb, H->WW* is the dominant decay channel for the SM Higgs boson at 125 GeV/c^2 and is therefore a promising channel to measure its properties. In addition, the VBF H->WW* search channel makes it possible to probe the exclusive coupling of the Higgs boson to the weak vector bosons. Precise measurements of these coupling strengths make it possible to constrain new models of physics beyond the SM. Despite its relatively large branching ratio, H->WW*->lnln is a challenging channel to search for the Higgs boson because of the neutrinos in the final state which are not directly detectable by the ATLAS detector. Consequently, it is not possible to fully reconstruct the mass of the WW system. Furthermore, there are several backgrounds that have the same signature in the detector as the signal. Top quark pair production is the largest background in this analysis. A multivariate analysis technique, based on an eight-variable boosted decision tree (BDT), is used to search for VBF H->WW*->lnln in the Run-I data and a subset of the Run-II data. This analysis provides the first evidence for VBF H->WW*->lnln with a significance of 3.2 standard deviations in Run-I and 1.9 standard deviations in Run-II. The measured signal strength relative to the rate predicted by the SM for VBF H->WW*->lnln is 1.3 +/- 0.5 using the Run-I data, and 1.7 +1.1/-0.9 using a fraction of the Run-II data.

Search for the Higgs Boson in Lepton, Tau, and Jets Final States

Search for the Higgs Boson in Lepton, Tau, and Jets Final States
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2013
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ISBN:

We present a search for the standard model Higgs boson in final states with an electron or muon and a hadronically decaying tau lepton in association with two or more jets using 9.7 fb-1 of Run II Fermilab Tevatron Collider data collected with the D0 detector. The analysis is sensitive to Higgs boson production via gluon fusion, associated vector boson production, and vector boson fusion, followed by the Higgs boson decay to tau lepton pairs or to W boson pairs. The ratios of 95% C.L. upper limits on the cross section times branching ratio to those predicted by the standard model are obtained for orthogonal subsamples that are enriched in either H → [tau] [tau] decays or H → WW decays, and for the combination of these subsample limits. The observed and expected limit ratios for the combined subsamples at a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV are 11.3 and 9.0 respectively.

Search for Invisible Decays of Higgs Bosons in the Vector Boson Fusion and Associated ZH Production Modes

Search for Invisible Decays of Higgs Bosons in the Vector Boson Fusion and Associated ZH Production Modes
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 35
Release: 2014
Genre:
ISBN:

A search for invisible decays of Higgs bosons is performed using the vector boson fusion and associated ZH production modes. In the ZH mode, the Z boson is required to decay to a pair of charged leptons or a b b-bar quark pair. The searches use the 8 TeV pp collision dataset collected by the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 19.7 inverse femtobarns. Certain channels include data from 7 TeV collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 inverse femtobarns. The searches are sensitive to non-standard-model invisible decays of the recently observed Higgs boson, as well as additional Higgs bosons with similar production modes and large invisible branching fractions. In all channels, the observed data are consistent with the expected standard model backgrounds. Limits are set on the production cross section times invisible branching fraction, as a function of the Higgs boson mass, for the vector boson fusion and ZH production modes. By combining all channels, and assuming standard model Higgs boson cross sections and acceptances, the observed (expected) upper limit on the invisible branching fraction at m[H] = 125 GeV is found to be 0.58 (0.44) at 95% confidence level. We interpret this limit in terms of a Higgs-portal model of dark matter interactions.