Prospects for the search for a standard model Higgs boson in ATLAS using vector boson fusion

The potential for the discovery of a Standard Model Higgs boson in the mass range mH < 2 mZ in the vector boson fusion mode has been studied for the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The characteristic signatures of additional jets in the forward regions of the detector and of low jet activity in the central region allow for an efficient background rejection. Analyses for the H → WW(*) and H → ττ decay modes have been performed using a realistic simulation of the expected detector performance. The results obtained demonstrate the large discovery potential in the H → WW(*) decay channel and the sensitivity to Higgs boson decays into τ-pairs in the low-mass region around 120 GeV/c2.