We present a study of jet multiplicities based on 37 000 hadronic Z 0 boson decays. From this data we determine the strong coupling constant α s =0.115±0.005 ( exp .) −0.010 +0.012 (theor.) to second order QCD at √ s =91.22GeV.
We present a study of the inclusive production of π 0 , η, K s 0 and Λ based on 929,000 hadronic Z decays recorded with the L3 detector at LEP. The measured inclusive momentum distributions have been compared with predictions from parton shower models as well as an analytical Quantum Chromodynamics calculation. Comparing to low energy e + e - data, we find that QCD describes the energy evolution of the hadron spectrum.
The production of B ∗ mesons in Z decays has been measured at LEP with the L3 detector. A sample of Z → b b events was obtained by tagging muons in 1.6 million hadronic Z decays collected in 1991, 1992 and 1993. A signal with a peak value of E γ = 46.3 ± 1.9 (stat) MeV in the B rest frame energy spectrum was interpreted to come from the decay B ∗ → γB. The inclusive production ratio of B ∗ mesons relative to B mesons was determined from a fit to the spectrum to be N B ∗ (N B ∗ + N B ) = 0.76 ± 0.08 ± 0.06 , where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic.
The formation of the η ′ in the reaction e + e − →e + e − η ′→e + e − π + π − γ has been measured by the L3 detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 91 GeV . The radiative width of the η ′ has been found to be Γ γγ =4.17±0.10 (stat.) ±0.27 (sys.) keV . The Q 2 dependence of the η ′ formation cross section has been measured for Q 2 ≤10 GeV 2 and the η ′ electromagnetic transition form factor has been determined. The form factor can be parametrised by a pole form with Λ=0.900±0.046 (stat.) ±0.022 (sys.) GeV . It is also consistent with recent non-perturbative QCD calculations.
We present a study of the inclusive ω and η′ production based on 3.1 million hadronic Z decays recorded with the L3 detector at LEP during 1991–1994. The production rates per hadronic Z decay have been measured to be 1.17±0.17 ω mesons and 0.25±0.04 η′ mesons. The production rates and the differential cross sections have been compared with predictions of the JETSET and the HERWIG Monte Carlo models. We have observed that the differential cross sections can be described by an analytical quantum chromodynamics calculation.
Inclusive jet production, e+e- -> e+e- \ee$ jet X, is studied using 560/pb of data collected at LEP with the L3 detector at centre-of-mass energies between 189 and 209 GeV. The inclusive differential cross section is measured using a k_t jet algorithm as a function of the jet transverse momentum, pt, in the range 3<pt<50 GeV for a pseudorapidity, eta, in the range -1<eta<1. This cross section is well represented by a power law. For high pt, the measured cross section is significantly higher than the NLO QCD predictions, as already observed for inclusive charged and neutral pion production.
The QED processes e^+ e^- -> e^+ e^- \mu^+ \mu^- and e^+ e^- -> e^+ e^- \tau^+ \tau^- are studied with the L3 detector at LEP using an untagged data sample collected at centre-of-mass energies 161 GeV < sqrt{s} < 209 GeV. The tau-pairs are observed through the associated decay of one tau into e\nu\nu and the other into \pi\pi\nu . The cross sections are measured as a function of sqrt{s}. For muon pairs, the cross section of the \gamma\gamma -> \mu^+\mu^- process is also measured as a function of the two-photon centre-of-mass energy for 3 GeV < W_{\gamma\gamma} < 40 GeV. Good agreement is found between these measurements and the O(\alpha^4) QED expectations. In addition, limits on the anomalous magnetic and electric dipole moments of the tau lepton are extracted.
In this Report, QCD results obtained from a study of hadronic event structure in high energy e^+e^- interactions with the L3 detector are presented. The operation of the LEP collider at many different collision energies from 91 GeV to 209 GeV offers a unique opportunity to test QCD by measuring the energy dependence of different observables. The main results concern the measurement of the strong coupling constant, \alpha_s, from hadronic event shapes and the study of effects of soft gluon coherence through charged particle multiplicity and momentum distributions.
Forum