Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Authors

CMS Collaboration
Ekaterina Avdeeva, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Kenneth A. Bloom, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
S. Bose, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Jamila Butt, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Daniel R. Claes, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Aaron Dominguez, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Michael Eads, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
P. Jindal, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
J. Keller, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Ilya Kravchenko, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
J. Lazo-Flores, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
H. Malbouisson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Sudhir Malik, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Gregory Snow, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2012

Citation

Physics Letters B 710 (2012) 403–425; doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2012.03.003

Abstract

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 fb⁻¹. Limits are set on the cross section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance of 3.1σ. The global significance of observing an excess with a local significance ≥ 3.1σ anywhere in the search range 110–150 GeV is estimated to be 1.8σ. More data are required to ascertain the origin of this excess.