Higgs Boson Search Sensitivity in the $H \to WW$ Dilepton Decay Mode at $\sqrt s = 7$ and 10 TeV

Understand

Prospects for discovery of the standard model Higgs boson are examined at center of mass energies of $7$ and $10$ TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

• We perform a simulation of the signal and principal backgrounds for Higgs boson production and decay in the $W^+ W^-$ dilepton mode, finding good agreement with the ATLAS and CMS collaboration estimates of signal significance at 14 TeV for Higgs boson masses near $m_H = 160$~GeV.
• At the lower energy of $7$~TeV, using the same analysis cuts as these collaborations, we compute expected signal sensitivities of about $2$ standard deviations ($\sigma$'s) at $m_H = 160$~GeV in the ATLAS case, and about 3.6~$\sigma$ in the CMS case for $1$~fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity.
• Integrated luminosities of 8~$\rm{fb}^{-1}$ and 3~$\rm{fb}^{-1}$ are needed in the ATLAS case at $7$ and $10$~TeV, respectively, for $5~\sigma$ level discovery.