Semi-Analytical Approach to Higgs Production at LEP 2

Abstract

The cross-section for the reaction $e^+e^- \rightarrow b\bar{b}\mu^+\mu^-$ is calculated with a semi-analytical integration of the phase space. Compact formulae are obtained for the total cross section and for invariant mass distributions of the $\mu^+\mu^-$ and $b\bar{b}$ pairs. The background diagrams to $ZH$ production yield analytically cumbersome but numerically small contributions. The numerical results are compared with those from a Monte Carlo approach.