A direct search for lepton flavour violating decays of the Higgs boson (H) in the H → eτ and H → eμ
channels is described. The data sample used in the search was collected in proton–proton collisions
at √s = 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of
19.7 fb−1. No evidence is found for lepton flavour violating decays in either final state. Upper limits
on the branching fractions, B(H → eτ ) < 0.69% and B(H → eμ) < 0.035%, are set at the 95% confidence
level. The constraint set on B(H → eτ ) is an order of magnitude more stringent than the existing indirect
limits. The limits are used to constrain the corresponding flavour violating Yukawa couplings, absent in
the standard model