Inclusive Higgs Boson Production at the LHC within the QCD kt-Factorization Approach

Abstract

Within the QCD k_t-factorization approach, the cross sections for the processes of Higgs boson inclusive production and decay at LHC energies are derived. The calculus relies on transverse-momentum-dependent unintegrated gluon distribution functions in the proton obtained by numerically solving the Catani-Ciafaloni-Fiorani-Marchesini (CCFM) equation. On the whole, the ATLAS and CMS measurements of differential cross sections for the Higgs boson production at collision energies of 8 and 13 TeV are adequately reproduced. Our results demonstrate that, with the QCD k_t-factorization approach, higher order perturbative corrections are effectively taken into account. The dependence of the results obtained on the form of the unintegrated gluon distribution is investigated.