Updated search for the standard model Higgs boson in events with jets and missing transverse energy using the full CDF data set

Abstract

We present an updated search for the Higgs boson produced in association with a vector boson in the final state with missing transverse energy and two jets. We use the full CDF data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.45  fb-1 at a proton-antiproton center-of-mass energy of 걩s=1.96  TeV. New to this analysis is the inclusion of a b-jet identification algorithm specifically optimized for H겲bb̅ searches. Across the Higgs boson mass range 90걶mH걶150  GeV/c2, the expected 95% credibility level upper limits on the VH production cross section times the H겲bb̅ branching fraction are improved by an average of 14% relative to the previous analysis. At a Higgs boson mass of 125  GeV/c2, the observed (expected) limit is 3.06 (3.33) times the standard model prediction, corresponding to one of the most sensitive searches to date in this final state.