Observation of a new boson with mass near 125 GeV in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ and 8 TeV

Abstract

A detailed description is reported of the analysis used by the CMS Collaboration in the search for the standard model Higgs boson in pp collisions at the LHC, which led to the observation of a new boson. The data sample corresponds to integrated luminosities up to 5.1 fb −1 at √ s = 7 TeV, and up to 5.3 fb −1 at √ s = 8 TeV. The results for five Higgs boson decay modes γγ, ZZ, WW, τ τ , and bb, which show a combined local significance of 5 standard deviations near 125 GeV, are reviewed. A fit to the invariant mass of the two high resolution channels, γγ and ZZ → 4 , gives a mass estimate of 125.3 ± 0.4 (stat.) ± 0.5 (syst.) GeV. The measurements are interpreted in the context of the standard model Lagrangian for the scalar Higgs field interacting with fermions and vector bosons. The measured values of the corresponding couplings are compared to the standard model predictions. The hypothesis of custodial symmetry is tested through the measurement of the ratio of the couplings to the W and Z bosons. All the results are consistent, within their uncertainties, with the expectations for a standard model Higgs boson. The CMS collaboration 106 Keywords: Hadron-Hadron Scattering IntroductionThe standard model (SM) [1-3] of particle physics accurately describes many experimental results that probe elementary particles and their interactions up to an energy scale of a few hundred GeV [4]. In the SM, the building blocks of matter, the fermions, are comprised of quarks and leptons. The interactions are mediated through the exchange of force carriers: the photon for electromagnetic interactions, the W and Z bosons for weak interactions, and the gluons for strong interactions. All the elementary particles acquire mass through their interaction with the Higgs field [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. This mechanism, called the "Higgs" or "BEH" mechanism [5][6][7][8][9][10], is the first coherent and the simplest solution for giving mass to W and Z bosons, while still preserving the symmetry of the Lagrangian. It is realized by introducing a new complex scalar field into the model. By construction, this field allows the W and Z bosons to acquire mass whilst the photon remains massless, and adds to the model one new scalar particle, the SM Higgs boson (H). The Higgs scalar field and its conjugate can also give mass to the fermions, through Yukawa interactions [11][12][13] The discovery or exclusion of the SM Higgs boson is one of the primary scientific goals of the LHC. Previous direct searches at the LHC were based on data from protonproton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.1 fb −1 collected at a centreof-mass energy of 7 TeV. The CMS experiment excluded at 95% CL masses from 127 to 600 GeV [20]. The ATLAS experiment excluded at 95% CL the ranges 111. . Within the remaining allowed mass region, an excess of events between 2 and 3 standard deviations (σ) near 125 GeV was reported by both experiments. In 2012, the proton-proton centre-of-mass energy was increased to 8 TeV, and by the end of June, an...

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