Observing H -> (WW(*))-W-(*) -> e(+/-)mu(-/+) p(T) in weak boson fusion with dual forward jet tagging at the CERN LHC - art. no. 113004

Weak boson fusion promises to be a copious source of intermediate mass stan dard model Higgs bosons at the CERN LHC. The additional very energetic forw ard jets in these events provide for powerful background suppression tools. We analyze the H-->(WW(*))-W-(*)-->e(+/-) mu(-/+) p(T) decay mode for a Hi ggs boson mass in the 130-200 GeV range. A parton level analysis of the dom inant backgrounds (production of W pairs, t (t) over bar and Z --> tau tau in association with jets) demonstrates that this channel allows the observa tion of H --> (WW(*))-W-(*) in a virtually background-foe environment, yiel ding a significant Higgs boson signal with an integrated luminosity of 5 fb (-1) or less. Weak boson fusion achieves a much better signal to background ratio than inclusive H --> e(+/-) mu(-/+) p(T) and is therefore the most p romising search channel in the 130-200 GeV mass range. [S0556-2821(99)00123 -X].