Exclusive $b\bar{b}$ pair production and irreducible background to the exclusive Higgs boson production

Abstract

We calculated the cross section for the exclusive double diffractive $b\bar{b}$ production in $pp\to p(b\bar{b})p$ reaction at LHC. Large cross sections are obtained (3 -- 10 nb). This process constitutes the irreducible background to the exclusive Higgs production and is of particular importance in the upcoming Higgs boson searches. The distribution in invariant mass of the $b\bar{b}$ pair is calculated and compared with the corresponding contribution from the Higgs decay. The contribution from the exclusive production of $Z^0$ and its decay as well as the contribution from the $\gamma \gamma \to b\bar{b}$ subprocess are also presented for the first time. The influence of cuts on the signal-to-background ratio is discussed.

Comments: 7 pages, 7 figures, figures and discussion has been added