| The Standard Model of particle physics is in excellent agreement with the observed phenomena of particle physics. Within the Standard Model, the weak and electromagnetic forces are successfully combined. However, this combination is only valid if the masses of the force carriers of the weak force, the Z and W bosons, are massless. In fact, these two particles are the second and third most massive observed elementary particles. Within the minimal Standard Model, the Higgs mechanism is introduced to reconcile this contradiction. Conclusive proof of this theory would come with the discovery of the Higgs boson.; This dissertation presents a search for the Higgs boson produced in conjunction with a Z boson. This search is limited to a Higgs boson mass range between 100 GeV/c2 and 150 GeV/c 2, for Higgs boson decays to a bb¯ pair, and Z boson decays to ℓ+ℓ-, an oppositely-charged lepton pair. The data sample size is 1.0 fb -1 collected from the CDF detector using collisions from Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory's Tevatron. Two artificial neural networks improved the sensitivity of the search. One network improved the jet energy resolution from the b and b¯ quarks. A second network distinguished the ZH signal from its major backgrounds. Fitting the data output of the latter neural network failed to show evidence for the Higgs boson. The search limited, at 95% confidence level, the sigma(ZH) ˙ BR( H → bb¯) to 1.7 pb (1.1 pb) for a Higgs boson mass 100 GeV/c2 (150 GeV/c 2). This limit is 13 (150) times larger than the sigma( ZH) ˙ BR(H → bb¯) derived from the Standard Model, for a Higgs boson mass of 100 GeV/c2 (150 GeV/c 2). |
