Search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with W or Z bosons, and decaying to bottom quarks

An essential search to answer the question of whether the newly discovered boson is the standard model Higgs boson ($H$) is the decay of the boson into a pair of bottom quarks ($b{\bar b}$), as this is theoretically the dominant decay channel of the low mass Higgs. For the best signal-to-background significance, the associated production of the Higgs with a weak vector boson ($V$) is used and the search is carried out in five different channels: $W(\mu\nu)H, W(e\nu)H, Z(\mu\mu)H, Z(ee)H$ and $Z(\nu\nu)H$. A data sample, recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC, that corresponds to integrated luminosities of 5.1 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV and 12.1 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV is analyzed. Exclusion limits at the 95\% confidence level and significance of signal excess with respect to the expectations for $H \to b{\bar b}$ in the mass range $110-135$ GeV are reported.