Search for a Higgs boson decaying to massive vector boson pairs at LEP

Abstract

This dissertation presents a search for a Higgs boson decaying to massive vector boson pairs. The search is based on data collected by the L3 experiment at CERN during the 1999-2000 period. We present the details and results of analyses for six of the physical channels of hZ->WWff. The combined analyses exclude a fermiophobic Higgs decaying to massive vector boson pairs for 83.8 GeV < m_h < 104.2 GeV at a 95% confidence level with an unexcluded region between 88.8 GeV < m_h < 89.6 GeV. Monte Carlo predictions of the analyses' performance predict an exclusion range of 86.8 GeV < m_h <107.5 GeV. We also present model-independent branching ratio limits for the massive vector boson search, as well as a scan of the fermiophobic plane combining with the results of the LEP h->gamma gamma search.