OPTIMIZATION OF THE SEARCH CRITERIA FOR DETECTING THE STANDARD MODEL HIGGS BOSON DECAYING TO WW^* BOSONS

Abstract

Abstract It is important to measure the properties of the Higgs boson that has been detected at the LHC to determine if it exactly matches the predictions of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs or if it deviates from those predictions. For example, it may also be a superposition of Higgs-like particles. Improving the signal of the Higgs boson will help experimentalist determine the properties of the particle and discern whether it is the actually the SM Higgs. Cuts are made on kinematic variables to maximize the signal and minimize the background. Gridscanner was used to determine whether the default cuts used to process data have been optimized such that the signal to background ratio for the 0-jet signal region of the SM Higgs is a maximum. The Higgs data used for this analysis is from the production of the Higgs via gluon-gluon fusion (ggF). These Higgs particles are then measured in the H →WW^* →eνμν decay channel. The analysis began by making gridscanner plots of the various parameters of interest. It was found that the default cuts were in agreement with the gridscanner plots up to a certain degree of uncertainty. New cuts were then tested in the analysis. Examination of the cutflows revealed that the new cuts yielded a lower signal to background ratio then the default. Further analysis showed that each individual default cut is superior to each corresponding new cut. This process was then repeated for a restricted M_T region 60 < M_T<140 GeV. It was decided to investigate this restricted region because this mass range contains the majority of the Higgs signal.