We present a search for a Higgs boson decaying to two W bosons in p{bar p} collisions at (square root)s = 1.96 TeV center-of-mass energy. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb−1 collected with the CDF II detector. We find no evidence for production of a Higgs boson with mass between 110 and 200 GeV/c2, and determine upper limits on the production cross section. For the mass of 160 GeV/c2, where the analysis is most sensitive, the observed (expected) limit is 0.7 pb (0.9 pb) at 95% Bayesian credibility level which is 1.7 (2.2) times the standard model cross section.

By way of retaining the gauge invariance of the Standard Model (SM) and giving masses to the W{sup {+-}} and Z{sup 0} bosons and the fermions, the Higgs mechanism predicts the existence of a neutral scalar bosonic particle, whose mass is not exactly known. The Higgs boson is the only experimentally unconfirmed SM particle to date. This thesis documents a search for the Higgs boson in p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV at the Tevatron, using 360 {+-} pb {sup -1} data collected by the Run II Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF II), as part of the most important quest for contemporary particle physicists. The search was for a Higgs boson decaying to a pair of W{sup {+-}} bosons, where each W boson decays to an electron, a muon or a tau that further decays to an electron or a muon with associated neutrinos. Events with two charged leptons plus large missing energy were selected in data triggered on a high p{sub t} lepton and compared to the signal and backgrounds modeled using Monte Carlo and jet data. No signal-like excess was observed in data. Therefore, upper limits on the HWW production cross-section in the analyzed mass range were extracted using the binned likelihood maximum from distributions of dilepton azimuthal angle at 95% Bayesian credibility level (CL), as shown in the table below.

In this thesis, we search for the production of the Standard Model Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider, through its decay mode to two W bosons, which each in turn decay into a charged lepton and a neutrino. The Higgs boson is the only elementary particle predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics which has not yet been experimentally observed. The question of its existence has been the subject of a wide body of experimental and theoretical work for the past half-century. Using 4.9 fb-1 of integrated luminosity, this search is expected, on average, to exclude the Standard Model predicted Higgs boson production cross section for masses between 126 GeV/c 2 and 260 GeV/c 2 under the background-only hypothesis. We observe no statistically significant excesses in the data, and we exclude the Standard Model Higgs boson production for masses between 129 GeV/c 2 and 260 GeV/c 2 . This result represents a significant reduction of the mass region in which the Standard Model Higgs boson is allowed to exist.

We present the results of the CDF search for a Standard Model Higgs boson decaying into a pair of W bosons with electrons, muons and hadronically decaying taus in the final state. In particular, we investigate a channel with three objects, two leptons and a tau. In 9.7 fb-1 of data we expect 40.0 ± 5.4 background events and 0.54 ± 0.05 signal events for a Higgs mass hypothesis of 160 GeV/c2, whereas in data we count 28 events. We set a 95% C.L. upper limit on [sigma]/[sigma]SM of 12.6 for a Higgs mass hypothesis of 160 GeV/c2. The expected 95% C.L. upper limit for the same mass is 12.4. Results for other ninete 0 GeV/c2 to 200 GeV/c2 are also presented.

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.

A fascinating tour of particle physics from Nobel Prize winner Leon Lederman. At the root of particle physics is an invincible sense of curiosity. Leon Lederman embraces this spirit of inquiry as he moves from the Greeks' earliest scientific observations to Einstein and beyond to chart this unique arm of scientific study. His survey concludes with the Higgs boson, nicknamed the God Particle, which scientists hypothesize will help unlock the last secrets of the subatomic universe, quarks and all--it's the dogged pursuit of this almost mystical entity that inspires Lederman's witty and accessible history.

This book describes the searches that lead to the discovery of a Higgs boson performed at CMS, one of the two main experiments at the CERN LHC. After an overview of the theory and of the CMS experiment, all search channels are described, with emphasis on the ones with the best sensitivity. The statistical methodology used to analyse and the outcomes of the searches and the discovery results are then presented in detail.