DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE POLE AND ON-SHELL MASSES AND WIDTHS OF THE HIGGS-BOSON

The differences between the on-shell mass and width of the Higgs boson and their pole counterparts are evaluated in leading order. For a hea vy Higgs boson, they are found to be sensitive functions of the gauge parameter and become numerically large over a class of gauges that inc ludes the unitary gauge. For a light Higgs boson, the differences rema in small in all gauges. The pinch-technique mass and width are found t o be close to their pole counterparts over a large range of Higgs boso n masses.