A search for a standard model Higgs boson decaying into a pair of tau leptons is performed using events recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011 and 2012. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 inverse femtobarns at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and 19.7 inverse femtobarns at 8 TeV. Each tau lepton decays hadronically or leptonically to an electron or a muon, leading to six different final states for the tau-lepton pair, all considered in this analysis. An excess of events is observed over the expected background contributions, with a local significance larger than 3 standard deviations for m[H] values between 115 and 130 GeV. The best fit of the observed H to tau tau signal cross section for m[H] = 125 GeV is 0.78 +- 0.27 times the standard model expectation. These observations constitute evidence for the 125 GeV Higgs boson decaying to a pair of tau leptons.

The work presented in this thesis spans a wide range of experimental particle physics subjects, starting from level-1 trigger electronics to the final results of the search for Higgs boson decay and to tau lepton pairs. The thesis describes an innovative reconstruction algorithm for tau decays and details how it was instrumental in providing a measurement of Z decay to tau lepton pairs. The reliability of the analysis is fully established by this measurement before the Higgs boson decay to tau lepton pairs is considered. The work described here continues to serve as a model for analysing CMS Higgs to tau leptons measurements.

A search for the standard model (SM) Higgs boson which decays to a pair of [tau] leptons is presented in this thesis using 35.9 f b−1 of 13 TeV data collected in 2016 by the CMS detector at CERN. The final states considered require that (1) one [tau] lepton decays leptonically while the other decays hadronically ([mu][tau]h or e[tau]h), (2) both taus decay hadronically ([tau]h[tau]h) or (3) one tau lepton decays to an electron while the other decays to a muon (e[mu]). This thesis specifically focuses on the details of the semi-hadronic decay channels ([mu][tau]h and e[tau]h), and presents the results of all channels combined. The signal strength, [mu], relative to the expectation for the SM Higgs boson is measured to be [mu] = 1.09+0.27−0.24. An excess is observed (expected) corresponding to 4.9 (4.7) [sigma] using 2016 data. The observed (expected) significance reaches 5.9 (5.9) [sigma] when combined with 7 and 8 TeV data collected at CMS. Subsequently following the SM search, a search for dark matter (DM) is presented and interpreted in two simplified Higgs-portal models: a baryonic dark matter model and a two Higgs-doublet model. In this thesis, the Higgs boson is required to decay to an opposite- sign tau pair. The tau pair final states considered are e[tau]h, [mu][tau]h, and [tau]h[tau]h. The expected 95% confidence level upper limits are produced and compared with the observed limit. No significant deviations beyond the SM prediction are observed.

In this thesis, I describe the search for a Higgs boson through its decay to a pair of tan leptons with the tau-pair subsequently decaying to ail electron, a muon, and neutrinos. The search is performed using data collected from proton-proton collisions by the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to 5.0 fb-1 of integrated luminosity recorded at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and 19.7 fb-1 at 8 TeV. The expected significance for a Standard Model Higgs boson signal with a mass of 125 GeV is at the level of 1.2 standard deviations for the electron muon tau-pair decay mode. A mild excess of events is seen above the SM background expectation in this decay mode, consistent with a SM Higgs boson of mass 125 GeV. In combination with results using other tau-pair decay modes, an excess of events above the background expectation is seen at the level of 3.4 standard deviations. This constitutes the first evidence for a Higgs boson to decay to leptons. This thesis also describes an analysis of the data in the context of physics beyond the Standard Model, particularly in the framework of its Minimal Supersymnnetric extension.

This thesis presents a study of the scalar sector in the standard model (SM), as well as various searches for an extended scalar sector in theories beyond the SM (BSM). The first part of the thesis details the search for an SM Higgs boson decaying to taus, and produced by gluon fusion, vector boson fusion, or associated production with a vector boson, leading to evidence for decays of the Higgs boson to taus. In turn, the second part highlights several searches for an extended scalar sector, with scalar boson decays to taus. In all of the analyses presented, at least one scalar boson decays to a pair of taus. The results draw on data collected by the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector during proton–proton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of 7 or 8 TeV.