Prospects for Higgs Searches via VBF at the LHC with Atlas

Abstract

We report on the potential for the discovery of a Standard Model Higgs boson with the vector boson fusion mechanism in the mass range $115<M_H<500 \gev/$c$^2$ with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Feasibility studies at hadron level followed by a fast detector simulation have been performed for $H\to W^{(*)}W^{(*)}\to l^+l^-\sla{p_T}$, $H\toγγ$ and $H\to ZZ\to l^+l^-q\bar{q}$. The preliminary results obtained here show a large discovery potential in the range $115<M_H<300 \gev/$c$^2$. Results obtained with multivariate techniques are reported for a number of channels.