Z polarization in the Higgs boson signal at the LHC

Abstract

We examine a method of studying the Z polarization in $H\to ZZ \to \ell^+ \ell^- ν\barν$ in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Included are the dominant contributions: gluon fusion production of the Higgs boson, continuum production of Z pairs, and the Z+missing jet QCD background. The polarization signal is distinguishable from the background for Higgs masses less than or equal to $\sim 700$ GeV, for an integrated luminosity of 10^5 pb^{-1}.