We present a search for standard model Higgs boson production in association with a W boson in proton-antiproton collisions (p{bar p} 2!W{sup {+-}}H 2!l[nu]b{bar b}) at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV. WH candidate events have a signature of a single lepton (E{sup {+-}}/[mu]{sup {+-}}), missing transverse energy, and two jets. The search looks for candidate events in approximately 2.7 fb−1 of data recorded with the CDF II detector. The high-p{sub T} lepton (e, [mu]) in the events provides a distinct signature for triggering and most of the events in the dataset come from high-p{sub t} lepton triggers. Our analysis improves on prior searches by including events recorded on the E{sub T} + 2 Jets trigger with a lepton reconstructed as an isolated high-p{sub T} charged particle. We increase the sample purity by identifying ('tagging') long-lived b-hadrons in jets. A neural network combines distinguishing kinematic information into a function optimized for WH sensitivity. The neural network output distributions are consistent with the standard model background expectations and we set limits upper limits on the rate of Higgs production. We set 95% confidence level upper limits on the WH production cross section times branching ratio for Higgs masses from 100 to 150 GeV/c2 and express our results as a ratio of the experimental limit to the theoretical Standard Model production rate. Our limits range from 3.6 (4.3 expected) to 61.1 (43.2 expected) for Higgs masses from 100 to 150 GeV/c2, respectively.

Abstract: We present a search for standard model Higgs boson production in association with a W boson in proton-antiproton collisions at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV. WH candidate events have a signature of a single lepton, missing transverse energy, and two jets. The search looks for candidate events in approximately 2.7 fb−1 of data recorded with the CDF II detector. The high transverse momentum (high-pT) lepton (electron or muon) in the events provides a distinct signature for triggering and most of the events in the dataset come from high-pT lepton triggers. Our analysis improves on prior searches by including events recorded on the Missing Transverse Energy (MET) plus 2 jets trigger with a lepton reconstructed as an isolated high-pT charged particle. We increase the sample purity by identifying ("tagging") long-lived b-hadrons in jets. A neural network combines distinguishing kinematic information into a function optimized for WH sensitivity. The neural network output distributions are consistent with the standard model background expectations and we set limits upper limits on the rate of Higgs production. We set 95% confidence level upper limits on the WH production cross section times branching ratio for Higgs masses from 100 to 150 GeV/c2 and express our results as a ratio of the experimental limit to the theoretical Standard Model production rate. Our limits range from 3.6 (4.3 expected) to 61.1 (43.2 expected) for Higgs masses from 100 to 150 GeV/c2, respectively.

In this thesis a direct search for the Standard Model Higgs boson production in association with a W boson at the CDF detector in the Tevatron is presented. This search contributes predominantly in the region of low mass Higgs region, when the mass of Higgs boson is less than about 135 GeV. The search is performed in a final state where the Higgs boson decays into two b quarks, and the W boson decays leptonically, to a charged lepton (it can be an electron or a muon) and a neutrino. This work is organized as follows. Chapter 2 gives an overview of the Standard Model theory of particle physics and presents the SM Higgs boson search results at LEP, and the Tevatron colliders, as well as the prospects for the SM Higgs boson searches at the LHC. The dataset used in this analysis corresponds to 4.8 fb−1 of integrated luminosity of p{bar p} collisions at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV. That is the luminosity acquired between the beginning of the CDF Run II experiment, February 2002, and May 2009. The relevant aspects, for this analysis, of the Tevatron accelerator and the CDF detector are shown in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4 the particles and observables that make up the WH final state, electrons, muons, E{sub T}, and jets are presented. The CDF standard b-tagging algorithms to identify b jets, and the neural network flavor separator to distinguish them from other flavor jets are also described in Chapter 4. The main background contributions are those coming from heavy flavor production processes, such as those coming from Wbb, Wcc or Wc and tt. The signal and background signatures are discussed in Chapter 5 together with the Monte CArlo generators that have been used to simulate almost all the events used in this thesis. WH candidate events have a high-p{sub T} lepton (electron or muon), high missing transverse energy, and two or more than two jets in the final state. Chapter 6 describes the event selection applied in this analysis and the method used to estimate the background contribution. The Matrix Element method, that was successfully used in the single t0p discovery analysis and many other analyses within the CDF collaboration, is the multivariate technique used in this thesis to discriminate signal from background events. With this technique is possible to calculate a probability for an event to be classified as signal or background. These probabilities are then combined into a discriminant function called the Event Probability Discriminant, EPD, which increases the sensitivity of the WH process. This method is described in detail in Chapter 7. As no evidence for the signal has been found, the results obtained with this work are presented in Chapter 8 in terms of exclusion regions as a function of the mass of the Higgs boso, taking into account the full systematics. The conclusions of this work to obtain the PhD are presnted in Chapter 9.

This thesis reports the result of a search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in events containing four reconstructed jets associated with quarks. For masses below 135 GeV/c2, the Higgs boson decays to bottom-antibottom quark pairs are dominant and result primarily in two hadronic jets. An additional two jets can be produced in the hadronic decay of a W or Z boson produced in association with the Higgs boson, or from the incoming quarks that produced the Higgs boson through the vector boson fusion process. The search is performed using a sample of s = sqrt(1.96) TeV proton-antiproton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.45 fb-1 recorded by the CDF II detector. The data are in agreement with the background model and 95% credibility level upper limits on Higgs boson production are set as a function of the Higgs boson mass. The median expected (observed) limit for a 125 GeV/c2 Higgs boson is 11.0 (9.0) times the predicted standard model rate.

We present a search for associated production of the standard model (SM) Higgs boson and a Z boson where the Z boson decays to two leptons and the Higgs decays to a pair of b quarks in p{bar p} collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron. We use event probabilities based on SM matrix elements to construct a likelihood function of the Higgs content of the data sample. In a CDF data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.7 fb−1 we see no evidence of a Higgs boson with a mass between 100 GeV/c2 and 150 GeV/c2. We set 95% confidence level (C.L.) upper limits on the cross-section for ZH production as a function of the Higgs boson mass m{sub H}; the limit is 8.2 times the SM prediction at m{sub H} = 115 GeV/c2.

We present a search for a standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a W boson using data collected with the CDF II detector from proton/antiproton collisions at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The search is performed in the WH channel where the W boson decays leptonically and the Higgs boson decays to a bottom/antibottom quark pair. The two quarks usually fragment into two jets, but sometimes a third jet can be produced via gluon radiation, so we have increased the standard two-jet sample by including events that contain three jets. We reconstruct the Higgs boson using two or three jets depending on the kinematics of the event. We find an improvement in our search sensitivity using the larger sample together with this multijet reconstruction technique. Our data show no evidence of a Higgs boson, so we set 95% confidence level upper limits on the WH production rate. We set limits between 3.36 and 28.7 times the standard model prediction for Higgs boson masses ranging from 100 to 150 GeV/c^2.

We present a search for standard model Higgs boson production in association with a W boson in proton-antiproton collisions (p{bar p} → W{sup {+-}}H → l[nu]b{bar b}) at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The search employs data collected with the CDF II detector which correspond to an integrated luminosity of approximately 1 fb−1. We select events consistent with a signature of a single lepton (e{sup {+-}}/[mu]{sup {+-}}), missing transverse energy, and two jets. Jets corresponding to bottom quarks are identified with a secondary vertex tagging method and a neural network filter technique. The observed number of events and the dijet mass distributions are consistent with the standard model background expectations, and we set 95% confidence level upper limits on the production cross section times branching ratio ranging from 3.9 to 1.3 pb for Higgs boson masses from 110 to 150 GeV/c2, respectively.