We study the feasibility of detecting a neutral Higgs boson H o , with mass between 2m, =. 80 GeV (by assumption) and 2m w at an e +e -machine or the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC). Backgrounds to the production at an e + e -machine of H O in association with a Z are calculated with particular emphasis on the case when m~ =m,. We present a detailed survey of the signals for and backgrounds to the inclusive or associated production at the SSC of H 0 followed by the decay of H O into one of the available channels. There is no signature which is established to be identifiable at the SSC. Only a few signatures remain to be studied, and the further calculations of most immediate interest are pointed out.

We examine the feasibility of identifying in a hadron machine the standard, neutral Higgs boson, produced in association with a W, when the mass of the Higgs is between approximately 100 GeV and 2m w -The production cross section is calculated with quasirealistic cuts imposed under the assumption that the Higgs decays into 11 Possible backgrounds arising from the continuum production of / U ib, or lb accompanied by a Ware computed as well.PACS numbers: 14.80.Gt, 13.85.QkThe search for the standard model Higgs boson is one of the most important efforts of present and future accelerators. A Higgs boson with mass m n < 100 GeV/c 2 will be identifiable at SLC, LEP I, or LEP II through production in association with a virtual or onshell Z° or in the radiative decays of toponium. 1 (The 100-GeV/c 2 mass limit is determined solely by the center-of-mass energy that will be available at these machines.) Heavier Higgs bosons will be produced at detectable rates first at planned hadron facilities such as the superconducting super collider (SSC). 1 Unfortunately, direct production in hadron collisions of the Higgs (via gluon 2 or W pair 3 fusion) followed by its decay is identifiable only when m H > 2m w \ in this case its primary decay modes are into W + W~ and Z°Z° intermediate vector boson pairs. Continuum W+ W~ and Z°Z° pair production is sufficiently small that a modest pair resolution will suppress this background adequately. 4 Below m H = 2m w but above m H = 2m t the Higgs boson decays almost exclusively into 11 pairs. In this intermediate mass range the QCD continuum prqduction cross section is so large that any feasible 11-pair mass resolution is not sufficient to make possible the identification of the Higgs. For ra, = 40 GeV/c 2 , one findswhere AM 2~0 .1/«H. Mis the 11 pair mass. Thus, it is of considerable importance to find a production mode for a Higgs boson with mass in the range 100 GeV/c 2 < m H < 2m w for which continuum backgrounds are manageable and event rates are adequate. In this Letter we show that hadronic production of an intermediate-mass Higgs in association with a trigger W + or W , followed by Higgs decay to a 11 pair, 5 pp~* H°W ± X,(1) L,7provides a potentially viable detection mode for this otherwise problematic mass range. We demonstrate that the background reactionsand pp-+ (W+7b)X or (W-tb)X,where the b (b) in the latter reaction is misidentified as a t (t), are sufficiently small that 10% to 20% resolution in M, 2 yand 1/100 b/t)et discrimination will provide a clear Higgs signal. We have not considered in detail the production of H° in association with a Z° be-_ cause the irreducible continuum background of Z° 11 arising from gluon-gluon scattering will certainly be overwhelming. The basic cross section for reaction (1), including appropriate cuts, is of order 1 pb, equivalent to 10 4 events for a standard L = 10 40 /cm 2 y. Triggering on the Wv'm leptonic decay modes into e, /x, or r yields over 10 3 events, with the assumption of leptonic detection efficiencies over 50%. If any of th...

We calculate the one-loop contribution to the two-photon decay widths of scalar and pseudoscalar bosons in a supersymmetric SU(2)XU( 1) gauge theory using component fields. Effective Lagrangians for these reactions are also constructed using superfields, thus confirming that these widths do not vanish in the supersymmetric limit.