Combined search for anomalous pseudoscalar HVV couplings in VH(H→bb) production and H → VV decay

A search for anomalous pseudoscalar couplings of the Higgs boson H to electroweak vector bosons V (=W or Z) in a sample of proton–proton collision events corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 18.9 fb^(−1) at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV is presented. Events consistent with the topology of associated VH production, where the Higgs boson decays to a pair of bottom quarks and the vector boson decays leptonically, are analyzed. The consistency of data with a potential pseudoscalar contribution to the HVV interaction, expressed by the effective pseudoscalar cross section fractions f_a_3, is assessed by means of profile likelihood scans. Results are given for the VH channels alone and for a combined analysis of the VH and previously published H→VV channels. Under certain assumptions, f_(a3)^(ZZ)>0.0034 is excluded at 95% confidence level in the combination. Scenarios in which these assumptions are relaxed are also considered.