  We present a new way to define and compute the maximum significance
achievable for signal and background processes at the LHC, using all available
phase space information. As an example, we show that a light Higgs boson
produced in weak--boson fusion with a subsequent decay into muons can be
extracted from the backgrounds. The method, aimed at phenomenological studies,
can be incorporated in parton--level event generators and accommodate
parametric descriptions of detector effects for selected observables.
