Exploiting h→W*W* decays at the upgraded Fermilab Tevatron

Abstract

We study the observability of a standard-model-like Higgs boson at an upgraded Fermilab Tevatron via the mode $\overrightarrow{h}{W}^{*}{W}^{*}.$ We concentrate on the main channel $g\overrightarrow{g}\overrightarrow{h}{W}^{*}{W}^{*}\to l\overline{\nu }\overline{l}\nu .$ We also find the mode $q{q}^{\prime }\to W^{\pm }\overrightarrow{h}{W}^{\pm }{W}^{*}{W}^{*}\to l^{\pm }\nu l^{\pm }\nu \mathrm{jj}$ useful. We perform detector level simulations by making use of a Monte Carlo program SHW. Optimized searching strategy and kinematical cuts are developed. We find that with a c.m. energy of 2 TeV and an integrated luminosity of $30\hspace{0.5em}{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$ the signal should be observable at a $3\sigma$ level or better for the mass range of $145\hspace{0.5em}\mathrm{GeV}\lesssim m_h\lesssim 180\hspace{0.5em}\mathrm{GeV}.$ For 95% confidence-level exclusion, the mass reach is $135\hspace{0.5em}\mathrm{GeV}\lesssim m_h\lesssim 190\hspace{0.5em}\mathrm{GeV}.$ We also present results of studying these channels with a model-independent parametrization. Further improvement is possible by including other channels. We conclude that the upgraded Fermilab Tevatron will have the potential to significantly advance our knowledge of Higgs boson physics.