Abstract:

During 2000, the ALEPH sensitivity to Standard Model Higgs boson production increased significantly, thanks in large part to the aggressively optimized operation of the LEP collider. Updated searches were conducted for the Higgs boson in various final states at energies up to 209 GeV. The ALEPH search ultimately observed a 3 standard deviation excess above background, most consistent with the production of a Higgs boson with mass . Results from this search will be presented along with recent LEP combined results which also exhibit an excess.