Search for a Higgs boson decaying into $\gamma \gamma^* \rightarrow \gamma \ell^+\ell^-$ in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV at the CMS Experiment

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into a real photon and a virtual photon ($\gamma\gamma^*$) where the virtual photon internally converts into leptons is performed. The rare Higgs boson decay into the $\ell\ell\gamma$ final state is rich of information, that will not only increase our understanding of its basic properties, but could also probe novel couplings caused by possible extensions of the standard model (SM) of particle physics. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC. Events were collected at center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb$^{-1}$. The selected events are required to have opposite sign muon or electron pairs with a low invariant mass, $m_{ll} < 20$ GeV. In the absence of an excess above SM predictions in the 120-150 GeV mass range, the first limits on the Higgs boson production cross section times the branching fraction, H to $\gamma\gamma^*$ to $\gamma \ell^+\ell^-$, at the LHC are derived.