MODEL-INDEPENDENT HIGGS-BOSON MASS LIMITS AT LEP

We derive model-independent constraints on Higgs mass and couplings fr om the present LEPI data samples and discuss the prospects for detecti ng the associated signals for higher masses, accessible at LEPII. This work is motivated by the fact that, in many extensions of the standar d model, the Higgs boson can have substantial ''invisible'' decay mode s, for example, into light or massless weakly interacting Goldstone bo sons associated to the spontaneous violation of lepton number below th e weak scale.