Search for the standard model Higgs Boson in the pp ZH bb channel

We report a search for the standard model (SM) Higgs boson based on data collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 260pb-1. We study events with missing transverse energy and two acoplanar b jets, which provide sensitivity to the ZH production cross section in the νν̄bb̄ channel, and to WH production when the lepton from the W→ ν decay is undetected. The data are consistent with the SM background expectation, and we set 95% C.L. upper limits on σ(pp̄→ZH/WH)×B(H→bb̄) from 3.4/8.3 to 2.5/6.3pb, for Higgs-boson masses between 105 and 135 GeV. © 2006 The American Physical Society.