Updated search for the standard model Higgs boson in events with jets and missing transverse energy using the full CDF data set

Abstract

We present an updated search for the Higgs boson produced in association with a vector boson in the final state with missing transverse energy and two jets. We use the full CDF data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.45 fb${}^{-1}$ at a proton-antiproton center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV. New to this analysis is the inclusion of a $b$-jet identification algorithm specifically optimized for $H\to b\bar{b}$ searches. Across the Higgs boson mass range $90\le m_H\le 150$ GeV$/c^2$, the expected 95% credibility level upper limits on the $VH$ production cross section times the $H\to b\bar{b}$ branching fraction are improved by an average of 14% relative to the previous analysis. At a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV$/c^2$, the observed (expected) limit is 3.06 (3.33) times the standard model prediction, corresponding to one of the most sensitive searches to date in this final state.

Comments: Submitted to Phys. Rev. D