Measuring anomalous couplings in H -> WW* decays at the International Linear Collider

Abstract

The measurement of the Higgs coupling to W bosons is an important test of our understanding of the electroweak symmetry-breaking mechanism. We study the sensitivity of the International Linear Collider (ILC) to the presence of anomalous HW+W- couplings using ZH -> nu(nu) over bar WW* -> nu(nu) over bar 4j events. Using an effective Lagrangian approach, we calculate the differential decay rates of the Higgs boson including the effects of new dimension-five operators. We present a Monte Carlo simulation of events at the ILC, using a full detector simulation based on GEANT4 and a real event reconstruction chain. Expected constraints on the anomalous couplings are given.