Abstract: 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 vs=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=s/sSM=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.

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