Search for the Higgs boson in fermionic channels using the CMS detector

An overview of the latest CMS results from searches for a Standard Model Higgs boson decaying to fermions is presented. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of approximately 5~$\mbox{fb}^{-1}$ at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and 20~$\mbox{fb}^{-1}$ at 8 TeV. The main accessible Higgs boson fermionic decay modes with the current dataset at LHC are $H\rightarrow\tau\tau$ and $H\rightarrow b\bar{b}$. In the case of the Standard Model Higgs boson decaying to a tau pair an excess of data over the background-only hypothesis with a significance of 3.2 standard deviations is observed, while an excess with a significance of 2.1 standard deviations is observed for $b\bar{b}$ decays. The combination of both searches results in strong evidence for the direct coupling of the 125 GeV Higgs boson to down-type fermions, with an observed significance of 3.8 standard deviations. Searches for these decay modes when the Higgs boson is produced in association with top quarks are presented separately. Searches for the Higgs boson decaying to a pair of muons or electrons are also presented.