  The Higgs boson production is investigated in proton-proton collisions at
next-to-leading-order accuracy in central exclusive diffractive processes at
the LHC. The production process by the double Pomeron exchange is analyzed in
the diffractive factorization through the Ingelman-Schlein approach, taking
into account the parton content of the Pomeron by the diffractive partonic
distribution function provided by the H1 Collaboration. Hence, we estimate the
production cross section of the Higgs boson as well as its rapidity
distribution for distinct energies of the LHC. Also, we include the gap
survival probability in our calculation, which is studied in recent works and
expected to lie in the range between 1% and 5% for the energy regime of 14 TeV.
As a result, we found a production cross section of about 0.3--0.8 (1.2--3.7)
fb at 7 (14) TeV, being of the same order as predicted by the two-photon and
the Balitsky-Fadin-Kuraev-Lipatov Pomeron mechanisms. Therefore, assuming the
selection rules of spin-parity properties, the exclusive production is a
promising channel for the Higgs boson detection in the LHC.
