Polarization asymmetry and the Higgs boson production mechanisms

Abstract

We calculate the cross section of Higgs boson production in the reaction e+e- -> neutrino anti-neutrino b b-bar for the case of left and right longitudinally polarized electron beam. Complete set of signal and irreducible background diagrams is considered. We propose a new critical test to identify the Higgs boson provided by the ratio of cross sections with left and right beam polarization. This quantity is sensitive to the ratio of Higgs-W and Higgs-Z couplings, since it exhibits the interplay of bremsstrahlung and fusion mechanisms of Higgs boson production inherent to the Standard Model scheme.

17 pages, 6 Postscript figures, LaTeX, uses epsf.tex