Search for Higgs bosons produced via vector-boson fusion and decaying into bottom quark pairs √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

Abstract

A search for the bb̄ decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson produced through vector-boson fusion is presented. Three mutually exclusive channels are considered: two all-hadronic channels and a photon- associated channel. Results are reported from the analysis of up to 30.6 fb⁻¹ of pp data at √s = 13 13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measured signal strength relative to the Standard þ1.7 Model prediction from the combined analysis is 2.5 +1.4 −1.3 for inclusive Higgs boson production and 3.0 +1.7−1.6 for vector-boson fusion production only.