Search for Neutral MSSM Higgs Bosons Decaying to Tau Pairs in pp Collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

Abstract

A search for neutral MSSM Higgs bosons in pp collisions at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The results are based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns recorded by the CMS experiment. The search uses decays of the Higgs bosons to tau pairs. No excess is observed in the tau-pair invariant-mass spectrum. The resulting upper limits on the Higgs boson production cross section times branching fraction to tau pairs, as a function of the pseudoscalar Higgs boson mass, yield stringent new bounds in the MSSM parameter space.

Figures (3)

• Figure 1: The reconstructed tau-pair invariant-mass distribution on linear (above) and logarithmic (below) scales, for the sum of the $\mathrm{e}\tau_h$, ${\mu}\tau_h$, and $\mathrm{e}{\mu}$ final states, comparing the observed distributions (points with error bars) to the sum of the expected backgrounds (shaded histograms). The contribution from a Higgs boson signal ($m_A=200$ GeV/$c^2$) is also shown, with normalization corresponding to the 95% upper bound on $\sigma_\phi\cdot B_{\tau\tau}$.
• Figure 2: The expected one- and two-standard-deviation ranges and observed 95% CL upper limits on $\sigma_\phi\cdot B_{\tau\tau}$ as a function of $m_A$.
• Figure 3: Region in the parameter space of $\tan\beta$ versus $m_A$ excluded at 95% CL in the context of the MSSM $m^{\rm max}_h$ scenario, with the effect of $\pm 1\sigma$ theoretical uncertainties shown. The other shaded regions show the 95% CL excluded regions from the LEP and Tevatron experiments.