Eur. Phys. J. C (2011) 71: 1746
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-011-1746-7

Special Article - Tools for Experiment and Theory

A 2D fit with background measurement constraints to boost the Higgs →ZZ^(∗)→4ℓ discovery potential at the LHC

¹ Department of Physics, CERN, 1211, Geneve 23, Switzerland
² Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, S3 7RH, Sheffield, UK

^* e-mail: Christos.Anastopoulos@cern.ch

Received: 17 July 2011
Revised: 29 August 2011
Published online: 17 September 2011

Abstract

A data-driven method for simultaneously extracting a potential Higgs → ZZ^(∗) → 4e, 4μ, 2e2μ signal and its dominant backgrounds, is presented. The method relies on a combined fit of the 2-lepton, Z^(∗), and 4-lepton invariant masses. The fit is assisted by normalization of the Z+X backgrounds in data control regions. The Higgs discovery potential for the next few years of LHC running is presented. The demonstrated high sensitivity of the method makes it ideal for the search performed by the ATLAS and CMS experiments.