Study of Higgs boson production through WW-fusion at a linear collider

Abstract

We study the feasibility of measuring the cross section of Higgs boson production in the WW-fusion process, e+e−→νeνeH0, at a future linear collider at center-of-mass energies between 350 and 500 GeV. Realistic assumptions for detector resolution effects, b-quark tagging efficiency and background processes are made. Using the decay mode H0→bb the cross section can be measured to an accuracy of 3% for a Higgs boson mass of 120 GeV, assuming 500fb−1 of data. This measurement can be used to extract the coupling gHWW between Higgs and W bosons and indirectly determine the total decay width of the Higgs boson.