Search for a Light Standard Model Higgs Boson Produced in Association with a Photon in Vector Boson Fusion

Abstract

We present the prospects for the discovery of a Standard Model Higgs boson decaying to $b\bar{b}$ pair through the Vector Boson Fusion mechanism in association with a central photon at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The photon provides a clean trigger and several advantages despite the fact that the cross section decreases by approximately a factor of $\hat{I}{\pm }_{em}$. After applying various optimized selection criteria, we obtain a significance of $\sim$1.9 using ALPGEN interfaced with PYTHIA. The expected $b$-jet efficiency and fake rates and other detector acceptance cuts are taken into account to obtain a more realistic result.

Presentation given at the Lake Louise Winter Institute 2010-Alberta, Canada