Combined Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson Decaying to b&bmacr; Using the DO Run II Data Set.

We present the results of the combination of searches for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a W or Z boson and decaying into bb using the data sample collected with the DO detector in p&pmacr; collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We derive 95% C.L. upper limits on the Higgs boson cross section relative to the standard model prediction in the mass range 100 GeV ≤ MH 150 GeV, and we exclude Higgs bosons with masses smaller than 102 GeV at the 95% C.L. In the mass range 120 GeV ≤ MH ≤ 145 GeV, the data exhibit an excess above the background prediction with a global significance of 1.5 standard deviations, consistent with the expectation in the presence of a standard model Higgs boson. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]