13 Dec 2011
ATLAS and CMS experiments present Higgs search status
An
event showing four muons (red tracks) from a proton-proton collision in
ATLAS. This event is consistent with two Z particles decaying into two
muons each. Such events are produced by Standard Model processes
without Higgs particles. They are also a possible signature for Higgs
particle production, but many events must be analysed together in order
to tell if there is a Higgs signal.
In a seminar held at CERN this week, the ATLAS and CMS experiments
presented the status of their searches for the Standard Model Higgs
boson. Their results are based on the analysis of considerably more
data than those presented at the summer conferences, sufficient to make
significant progress in the search for the Higgs boson, but not enough
to make any conclusive statement on the existence or non-existence of
the elusive Higgs. The main conclusion is that the Standard Model Higgs
boson, if it exists, is most likely to have a mass constrained to the
range 116-130 GeV by the ATLAS experiment, and 115-127 GeV by CMS.
Tantalising hints have been seen by both experiments in this mass
region, but these are not yet strong enough to claim a discovery.
