Higgs Combos, Global Fit, the Dead, the Alive & the New

Abstract

The editors of SGJ ask me to share with SGJ readers this article appeared in PSTJ V2(7)  and I happily accept. If we accept the combination uncertainty estimate and the statistical validity of combining all direct searches with electroweak fits:

•  We indirectly rule out a lone standard model Higgs boson of any mass with no additional BSM physics at 90% confidence, i.e. a fair bit short of conclusively.
•  We directly rule out any standard model Higgs boson at 95% confidence except in the mass ranges 114GeV to 144GeV or 240 GeV to 265 GeV or above 480 GeV.
•  We do not rule out other BSM Higgs-type mechanisms including composite Higgs, technicolor Higgs, Higgs doublets, SUSY Higgs etc.
• We do not rule out high-mass Higgs bosons above 480 GeV in combination with other BSM physics that could explain electroweak fits and cure theoretical limitations of the SM at higher energies.
• We see excesses at around 130 GeV to around 160 GeV that could be between two and three sigma level. It might suggest some new physics such as some kind of Higgs particle(s) in this region. However, these are not high levels of statistical significance.