Higgs Hunt Using Expert Discriminants in the $ZH$$\rightarrow$$\nu$$\nu$$b$$\bar{b}$ at the TeVatron

Abstract

This analysis presents improved techniques applicable to searches for a low mass Higgs boson in events with missing transverse energy and two b-quark jets at CDF. The sample includes substantial contributions from both $ZH$ and $WH$ final states, as well as substantial backgrounds originating from QCD multi-jets, $t\overline{t}$ production, heavy diboson production, and instrumental backgrounds. Multivariate techniques have been shown to be extremely important in increasing the experimental sensitivity in this channel. We investigate the use of multivariate methods targeted toward rejection of specific backgrounds and how to combine these methods to form a single overall discriminant. We present expected improvements of 14\% in Higgs search sensitivity using these new techniques.