A search for the standard model Higgs Boson in the neutrino channel using the DELPHI detector at LEP 2

A search for the Standard Model Higgs boson is performed using 51.6 pb sup - sup 1 of data collected by the DELPHI detector in 1997 at a centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV. A search is made for Higgs bosons produced in association with a Z boson, where the Higgs decays to b-quarks and the Z to neutrinos. Different statistical search methods are investigated and compared, with 95% confidence level cross-section limits set as a function of the Higgs boson mass. No significant excess is observed in the data, allowing a lower mass limit of 73.0 GeV/c sup 2 to be set for the Higgs boson.