Combined search for anomalous pseudoscalar HVVcouplings inVH(H →bb)production and H →VVdecay

Abstract

A search for anomalous pseudoscalar couplings of the Higgs boson H to electroweak vector bosons V ( or Z) in a sample of proton–proton collision events corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 18.9 fb−1 at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV is presented. Events consistent with the topology of associated production, where the Higgs boson decays to a pair of bottom quarks and the vector boson decays leptonically, are analyzed. The consistency of data with a potential pseudoscalar contribution to the interaction, expressed by the effective pseudoscalar cross section fractions , is assessed by means of profile likelihood scans. Results are given for the channels alone and for a combined analysis of the and previously published channels. Under certain assumptions, is excluded at 95% confidence level in the combination. Scenarios in which these assumptions are relaxed are also considered.