EPJ Web of Conferences 28, 12063 (2012)
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/20122812063

Analysis strategy for the SM Higgs boson search in the four-lepton final state in CMS

Department of Experimental Physics, University of Torino/INFN, Torino, Italy

^a e-mail: alberto.graziano@cern.ch

Abstract

The current status of the searches for the SM Higgs boson in the H→ZZ^(*)→4ℓ decay channel with the CMS experiment [1] is presented. The selection cuts for suppressing the backgrounds while keeping very high signal efficiencies are described, along with the data-driven algorithms implemented to estimate the background yields and the systematic uncertainties. With an integrated luminosity of 1.66 fb⁻¹, upper limits at 95% CL on the SM-like Higgs cross section × branching ratio exclude cross sections from about one to two times the expected value from the Standard Model in the range 150 < m_H < 420 GeV. No evidence for the existence of the SM Higgs boson has been found so far.