Higgs Boson Search Sensitivity in the $H\to WW$ Dilepton Decay Mode at $\sqrt{s}=7$ and 10 TeV

Abstract

Prospects for discovery of the standard model Higgs boson are examined at center of mass energies of $7$ and $10$ TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. We perform a simulation of the signal and principal backgrounds for Higgs boson production and decay in the $W^{+}{W}^{-}$ dilepton mode, finding good agreement with the ATLAS and CMS collaboration estimates of signal significance at 14 TeV for Higgs boson masses near $m_H=160$~GeV. At the lower energy of $7$~TeV, using the same analysis cuts as these collaborations, we compute expected signal sensitivities of about $2$ standard deviations ($\sigma$'s) at $m_H=160$~GeV in the ATLAS case, and about 3.6~$\sigma$ in the CMS case for $1$~fb${}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity. Integrated luminosities of 8~${\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$ and 3~${\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$ are needed in the ATLAS case at $7$ and $10$~TeV, respectively, for $5\sigma$ level discovery. In the CMS case, the numbers are 2~${\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$ and 1~${\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$ at $7$ and $10$~TeV. Our different stated expectations for the two experiments arise from the more restrictive analysis cuts in the CMS case. Recast as exclusion limits, our results show that with $1{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity at 7~TeV, the LHC may be able to exclude $m_H$ values in the range 160 to 180~GeV provided no signal is seen.

Comments: 29 pages, 8 figures. New results on estimated discovery reach for both CMS and ATLAS, as well as exclusion limits, along with comparisons with Tevatron possibilities. References added.