Combined search for anomalous pseudoscalar HVV couplings in VH (H -> b b-bar) production and H -> VV decay

A search for anomalous pseudoscalar couplings of the Higgs boson H to electroweak vector bosons V (=W=W or Z) in a sample of proton–proton collision events corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 18.9 fb−1 at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV is presented. Events consistent with the topology of associated VHVH production, where the Higgs boson decays to a pair of bottom quarks and the vector boson decays leptonically, are analyzed. The consistency of data with a potential pseudoscalar contribution to the HVVHVV interaction, expressed by the effective pseudoscalar cross section fractions fa3fa3, is assessed by means of profile likelihood scans. Results are given for the VHVH channels alone and for a combined analysis of the VHVH and previously published H→VVH→VV channels. Under certain assumptions, View the MathML sourcefa3ZZ>0.0034 is excluded at 95% confidence level in the combination. Scenarios in which these assumptions are relaxed are also considered.