  A search for neutral Higgs bosons predicted in the minimal supersymmetric
standard model (MSSM) for mu+ mu- decay channels is presented. The analysis
uses data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in proton-proton
collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, corresponding to
integrated luminosities of 5.1 and 19.3 inverse femtobarns, respectively. The
search is sensitive to Higgs bosons produced through the gluon fusion process
or in association with a bb quark pair. No statistically significant excess is
observed in the mu+ mu- mass spectrum. Results are interpreted in the framework
of several benchmark scenarios, and the data are used to set an upper limit on
the MSSM parameter tan(beta) as a function of the mass of the pseudoscalar A
boson in the range from 115 to 300 GeV. Model independent upper limits are
given for the product of the cross section and branching fraction for gluon
fusion and b quark associated production. They are the most stringent limits
obtained to date in this channel.

High Energy Physics - Experiment