Detection of Higgs bosons decaying to bottom quarks

Several developments affecting the possibility of Higgs detection are discussed. These include the level of certainty about the t quark mass, Monte Carlo programs to generate both signal and background events, and separation and/or enhancement of heavy quark jets from jets due to light quarks or gluons, and the possibility that the neutral Higgs decay into bottom quarks might be the decay mode of choice for detecting the intermediate mass Higgs. Possible means of detection of an intermediate mass Higgs at the SSC, particularly if a prominent decay mode is to bottom quarks, are examined, using the PYTHIA Monte Carlo program to generate both signal and background events. For the signal, events were generated in which Higgs bosons are created in proton-proton collisions, with the Higgs decaying into bottom quarks. The presence of W or Z bosons, created in the same proton-proton collision, is used to enhance the likelihood of Higgs production and to reduce the potentially enormous background. It is found that the Higgs decay to bottom quarks, if important, would be more favorable for detection of the Higgs than decay to top quarks was found to be because of the smaller background. 3 refs., 4 figs