Exclusive bb̄ pair production and irreducible background to the exclusive Higgs boson production

Summary, in English

We calculated the cross section for the exclusive double-diffractive bb̄ production in pp→p(bb̄)p reaction at LHC. Large cross sections are obtained (3-10nb). This process constitutes the irreducible background to the exclusive Higgs production and is of particular importance in the upcoming Higgs boson searches. The distribution in invariant mass of the bb̄ pair is calculated and compared with the corresponding contribution from the Higgs decay. The contribution from the exclusive production of Z0 and its decay as well as the contribution from the γγ→bb̄ subprocess are also presented for the first time. The influence of cuts on the signal-to-background ratio is discussed.