We have measured the cross section of four charged pion production in photon-photon interactions in the invariant mass range 1.0≦Wγγ≦3.2 GeV and up toQ2=16 GeV2. For 1.2 GeV≦Wγγ≦1.7 GeV the process is dominated by ρ0ρ0 production with a rapid rise in cross section around 1.2 GeV, well below the nominal ρ0ρ0 threshold. The observed distributions in the two particle masses and in the production and decay angles are well described by an incoherent sum of the phase-space subprocesses γγ →ρ0ρ0, →ρ0π+π−, and →π+π−π+π−. A spin-parity analysis of the ρ0ρ0 system showsJP=2+ to dominate, although 0+ is also possible forWγγ≦1.4 GeV. Negative partity states are excluded.

The total and the differential cross sections for the reaction e + e − → γγ ( γ ) have been measured with the DELPHI detector at LEP using an integrated luminosity of 36.9 pb −1 . The results agree with the QED predictions and consequently there is no evidence for non-standard channels with the same experimental signature. The lower limits obtained on the QED cutoff parameters are Λ + > 143 GeV and Λ − > 120 GeV, and the lower bound on the mass of an excited electron with an effective coupling constant λ γ = 1 is 132 GeV/ c 2 . Upper limits on the branching ratios for the decays Z 0 → γγ , Z 0 → π 0 γ , Z 0 → ηγ and Z 0 → γγγ have been determined to be 5.5 × 10 −5 , 5.5 × 10 −5 , 8.0 × 10 −5 , and 1.7 × 10 −5 respectively. All the limits are at the 95% confidence level.

The transition between photoproduction and deep-inelastic scattering is investigated in jet production at the HERA ep collider, using data collected by the H1 experiment. Measurements of the differential inclusive jet cross-sections dsigep/dEt* and dsigmep/deta*, where Et* and eta* are the transverse energy and the pseudorapidity of the jets in the virtual photon-proton centre of mass frame, are presented for 0 < Q2 < 49 GeV2 and 0.3 < y < 0.6. The interpretation of the results in terms of the structure of the virtual photon is discussed. The data are best described by QCD calculations which include a partonic structure of the virtual photon that evolves with Q2.

The shapes of jets with transverse energies, E_T(jet), up to 45 GeV produced in neutral- and charged-current deep inelastic e+p scattering (DIS) at Q**2 > 100 GeV**2 have been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA. Jets are identified using a cone algorithm in the eta-phi plane with a cone radius of one unit. The jets become narrower as E_T(jet) increases. The jet shapes in neutral- and charged-current DIS are found to be very similar. The jets in neutral-current DIS are narrower than those in resolved processes in photoproduction and closer to those in direct-photon processes for the same ranges in E_T(jet) and jet pseudorapidity. The jet shapes in DIS are observed to be similar to those in e+e- interactions and narrower than those in pbarp collisions for comparable E_T(jet). Since the jets in e+e- interactions and e+p DIS are predominantly quark initiated in both cases, the similarity in the jet shapes indicates that the pattern of QCD radiation within a quark jet is to a large extent independent of the hard scattering process in these reactions.

The DIS diffractive cross section, $d\sigma^{diff}_{\gamma^* p \to XN}/dM_X$, has been measured in the mass range $M_X < 15$ GeV for $\gamma^*p$ c.m. energies $60 < W < 200$ GeV and photon virtualities $Q^2 = 7$ to 140 GeV$^2$. For fixed $Q^2$ and $M_X$, the diffractive cross section rises rapidly with $W$, $d\sigma^{diff}_{\gamma^*p \to XN}(M_X,W,Q^2)/dM_X \propto W^{a^{diff}}$ with $a^{diff} = 0.507 \pm 0.034 (stat)^{+0.155}_{-0.046}(syst)$ corresponding to a $t$-averaged pomeron trajectory of $\bar{\alphapom} = 1.127 \pm 0.009 (stat)^{+0.039}_{-0.012} (syst)$ which is larger than $\bar{\alphapom}$ observed in hadron-hadron scattering. The $W$ dependence of the diffractive cross section is found to be the same as that of the total cross section for scattering of virtual photons on protons. The data are consistent with the assumption that the diffractive structure function $F^{D(3)}_2$ factorizes according to $\xpom F^{D(3)}_2 (\xpom,\beta,Q^2) = (x_0/ \xpom)^n F^{D(2)}_2(\beta,Q^2)$. They are also consistent with QCD based models which incorporate factorization breaking. The rise of $\xpom F^{D(3)}_2$ with decreasing $\xpom$ and the weak dependence of $F^{D(2)}_2$ on $Q^2$ suggest a substantial contribution from partonic interactions.

Di-jet production is studied in collisions of quasi-real photons radiated by the LEP beams at e+e- centre-of-mass energies 161 and 172 GeV. The jets are reconstructed using a cone jet finding algorithm. The angular distributions of direct and double-resolved processes are measured and compared to the predictions of leading order and next-to-leading order perturbative QCD. The jet energy profiles are also studied. The inclusive two-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse energy and rapidity and compared to next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations. The inclusive two-jet cross-section as a function of rapidity is compared to the prediction of the leading order Monte Carlo generators PYTHIA and PHOJET. The Monte Carlo predictions are calculated with different parametrisations of the parton distributions of the photon. The influence of the `underlying event' has been studied to reduce the model dependence of the predicted jet cross-sections from the Monte Carlo generators.

Exclusive production of $\rho^0$ and $J/\psi$ mesons in e^+ p collisions has been studied with the ZEUS detector in the kinematic range $0.25 < Q^2 < 50 GeV^2, 20 < W < 167 GeV$ for the $\rho^0$ data and $2 < Q^2 < 40 GeV^2, 50 < W < 150 GeV$ for the $J/\psi$ data. Cross sections for exclusive $\rho^0$ and $J/\psi$ production have been measured as a function of $Q^2, W$ and $t$. The spin-density matrix elements $r^{04}_{00}, r^1_{1-1}$ and $Re r^{5}_{10}$ have been determined for exclusive $\rho^0$ production as well as $r^{04}_{00}$ and $r^{04}_{1-1}$ for exclusive $J/\psi$ production. The results are discussed in the context of theoretical models invoking soft and hard phenomena.

Data collected at the Z resonance using the DELPHI detector at LEP are used to determine the charged hadron multiplicity in gluon and quark jets as a function of a transverse momentum-like scale. The colour factor ratio, \cacf, is directly observed in the increase of multiplicities with that scale. The smaller than expected multiplicity ratio in gluon to quark jets is understood by differences in the hadronization of the leading quark or gluon. From the dependence of the charged hadron multiplicity on the opening angle in symmetric three-jet events the colour factor ratio is measured to be: C_A/C_F = 2.246 \pm 0.062 (stat.) \pm 0.080 (syst.) \pm 0.095 (theo.)

The cross section for dijet photoproduction at high transverse energies is presented as a function of the transverse energies and the pseudorapidities of the jets. The measurement is performed using a sample of ep-interactions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6.3 pb^(-1), recorded by the ZEUS detector.Jets are defined by applying a k_T-clustering algorithm to the hadrons observed in the final state. The measured cross sections are compared to next-to-leading order QCD calculations. In a kinematic regime where theoretical uncertainties are expected to be small, the measured cross sections are higher than these calculations.

We report on measurements of hadronic and leptonic cross sections and leptonic forward-backward asymmetries performed with the L3 detector in the years 1993-95. A total luminosity of 103 pb^-1 was collected at centre-of-mass energies \sqrt{s} ~ m_Z and \sqrt{s} ~ m_Z +/- 1.8 GeV which corresponds to 2.5 million hadronic and 245 thousand leptonic events selected. These data lead to a significantly improved determination of Z parameters. From the total cross sections, combined with our measurements in 1990-92, we obtain the final results: m_Z = 91189.8 +/- 3.1 MeV, Gamma_Z = 2502.4 +/- 4.2 MeV, Gamma_had = 1741.1 +/- 3.8 MeV, Gamma_l = 84.14 +/- 0.17 MeV. An invisible width of Gamma_inv = 499.1 +/- 2.9 MeV is derived which in the Standard Model yields for the number of light neutrino species N_nu = 2.978 +/- 0.014. Adding our results on the leptonic forward-backward asymmetries and the tau polarisation, the effective vector and axial-vector coupling constants of the neutral weak current to charged leptons are determined to be \bar{g}_V^l = -0.0397 +/- 0.0017 and \bar{g}_A^l = -0.50153 +/- 0.00053.Including our measurements of the Z -> b \bar{b} forward-backward and quark charge asymmetries a value for the effective electroweak mixing angle of sin^2\bar{\theta}_W = 0.23093 +/- 0.00066 is derived. All these measurements are in good agreement with the Standard Model of electroweak interactions. Using all our measurements of electroweak observables an upper limit on the mass of the Standard Model Higgs boson of m_H &lt; 133 GeV is set at 95% confidence level.