Results

This chapter provides the results of the Vector Boson Fusion (VBF) \({\text{H} \rightarrow \text{inv.}} \) analysis, for which the analysis strategy is presented in the previous chapter. No statistically significant excess in data compared to Standard Model (SM) background is observed, therefore the results are interpreted as an upper bound on the branching fraction of \({\text{H} \rightarrow \text{inv.}} \) decays. First part of this chapter focuses on the results obtained from the 2017 and 2018 datasets. This is followed by a discussion of the results obtained through combination with additional proton-proton collision data from 2016, and also with orthogonal event categories (CMS Collaboration: Phys. Rev. D 105, 092007 (2022)). With all available Run 2 data combined, and assuming Standard Model Higgs boson production cross section, an upper bound of \({{B(\text{H}\rightarrow \text{inv})}} < 0.18\) is obtained with \(95\%\) CL, using the \(\mathrm {CL}_{\mathrm {s}}\) method (Junk, T.: Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A 434, 435 (1999)). The chapter closes with a discussion of how this result can also be interpreted as an upper bound in dark matter (DM)—nucleon scattering cross section, and how such interpretations complement the results from DM direct detection experiments.