Search for the standard model Higgs boson produced through vector boson fusion and decaying to b b-bar

A first search is reported for a standard model Higgs boson (H) that is produced through vector boson fusion and decays to a bottom-quark pair. Two data samples, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 19.8  fb−1 and 18.3  fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at s√=8  TeV were selected for this channel at the CERN LHC. The observed significance in these data samples for a H→bb¯ signal at a mass of 125 GeV is 2.2 standard deviations, while the expected significance is 0.8 standard deviations. The fitted signal strength μ=σ/σSM=2.8+1.6−1.4. The combination of this result with other CMS searches for the Higgs boson decaying to a b-quark pair yields a signal strength of 1.0±0.4, corresponding to a signal significance of 2.6 standard deviations for a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV.