Speaker: Jamie Gainer, Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern U.
Abstract: Multivariate Analyses (MVA) have become important tools for experimentalists in recent years. A particular MVA, the Matrix Element Method (MEM) uses full differential cross section information in determining the event by event likelihood. We examine the extent to which the use of the MEM allows one to increase the significance for Higgs discovery in various channels where the Higgs decays to gauge bosons which in turn decay leptonically. We additionally consider the use of the MEM for spin discrimination in these channels.