A measurement of the cross section for e + e - → hadrons using 11 000 hadronic decays of the Z boson at ten different center-of-mass energies is presented. A three-parameter fit gives the following values for the Z mass M z , the total width Γ z , the product of the electronic and hadronic partial widths Γ e Γ h , and the unfolded pole cross section σ 0 : M Z =91.171±0.030(stat)±0.030 (beam) GeV, Γ Z =2.511±0.065 GeV, Γ e Γ h =0.148±0.006 (stat.)±0.004 (syst.) GeV 2 , σ 0 =41.6±0.7(stat.)±1.1 (syst.) nb,

Data are presented on the reaction e+e− → γ + no other detected particle at centre-of-mass energies of 89.48, 91.26 and 93.08 GeV. The cross-section for this reaction is related directly to the number of light neutrino generations which couple to the Z° boson, and to several other possible phenomena such as the production of excited neutrinos, the production of any invisible ‘X’ particle, and the magnetic moment of the tau neutrino. Based on the observed number of single photon events, the number of light neutrinos that couple to the Z° is measured to be Nv = 2.89 ± 0.38. No evidence is found for anomalous production of energetic single photons, and upper limits at 95% confidence level are determined for excited neutrino production (BR < 4 − 8 × 10−6 depending on its mass), production of an invisible ‘X’ particle (σ, < 0.1 pb for masses below 60 GeV), and the magnetic moment of the tau neutrino (< 5.1 × 10-6 μB).

Measurements are presented of the cross section ratios R ℓ = σ ℓ ( e + e − →ℓ + ℓ − ) σ h ( e + e − →hadrons) for ℓ=e, μ and τ using data taken from a scan around the Z 0 . The results are R e =(5.09± o .32±0.18)%, R μ =(0.46±0.35±0.17)% and R τ =(4.72±0.38±0.29)% where, for the ratio R e , the t -channel contribution has been subtracted. These results are consistent with the hypothesis of lepton universality and test this hypothesis at the energy scale s ∼8300 GeV 2 . The absolute cross sections σ ℓ (e + e − →ℓ + ℓ − ) have also been measured. From the cross sections the leptonic partial widths Γ e =(83.2±3.0±2.4) MeV, (Γ e Γ μ ) 1 2 =(84.6±3.0±2.4) MeV and (Γ e Γ τ ) 1 2 =(82.6±3.3±3.2) MeV have been extracted. Assuming lepton universality the ratio Γ ℓ Γ h =(4.89±0.20±0.12) × 10 −2 w was obtained, together with Γ ℓ =(83.6±1.8±2.2) MeV. The number of light neutrino species is determined to be N v =3.12±0.24±0.25. Al the data are consistent with the predictions of the standard model.

In a sample of 3.02 million hadronic Z 0 decays collected by the DELPHI detector, 270 J ψ → ℓ + ℓ − candidates have been selected. A search for fully reconstructed B c ± mesons has yielded one B c ± → J ψ π ± candidate, no B c ± → J ψ ℓ ± ν ℓ candidates, and one B c ± → J ψ , π + π − π ± candidate, consistent with expected background in each channel. The following 90% confidence level upper limits are determined: Br(Z 0 → B c ± X) × Br(B c ± → J ψ π ± ) < (1.05 to 0.84) × 10 −4 and Br(Z 0 → B c ± X) × Br(B c ± → J ψ ℓ ± ν ℓ ) < (5.8 to 5.0) × 10 −5 , where the ranges quoted correspond to the range of predicted B c ± lifetimes from 0.4 to 1.4 ps, and Br(Z 0 → B c ± X) × Br(B c ± → J ψ π + π − π ± ) < 1.75 × 10 −4 , constant over the range of predicted B c ± lifetimes.

During the last 1995 data acquisition period at LEP, the DELPHI experiment collected an integrated luminosity of 5.9 pb −1 at centre-of-mass energies of 130 GeV and 136 GeV. Radiative leptonic events ( e , μ, τ) with high energy photons were studied and compared to Standard Model predictions. The data were used to search for charged excited leptons decaying through an electromagnetic transition. No significant signal was found. From the search for pair produced excited leptons, the limits m e ∗ > 62.5 GeV /c 2 , m μ ∗ > 62.6 GeV /c 2 and m τ ∗ > 62.2 GeV /c 2 at 95% confidence level were established. For single excited lepton production, upper limits on the ratio λ m l ∗ of the coupling of the excited charged lepton to its mass were derived.

A measurement of the mass difference,Δm d , between the two physical B d

From the data collected by DELPHI at LEP in autumn 1995, the multiplicity of charged particles at a hadronic energy of 130 GeV has been measured to be 〈 n ch 〉 = 23.84 ± 0.51 (stat) ± 0.52 (syst). When compared to lower energy data, the value measured is consistent with the evolution predicted by QCD with corrections at next-to-leading order, for a value α s (130 GeV) = 0.105 ± 0.003 (stat) ± 0.008 (syst).

The hadronic fragmentation functions of the various quark flavours and of gluons are measured in a study of the inclusive hadron production from Z 0 decays with the DELPHI detector and are compared with the fragmentation functions measured elsewhere at energies between 14 GeV and 91 GeV. A large scaling violation is observed, which is used to extract the strong coupling constant from a fit using a numerical integration of the second order DGLAP evolution equations. The result is α s ( M Z ) = 0.124 −0.007 +0.006 (exp) ± 0.009(theory) where the first error represents the experimental uncertainty and the second error is due to the factorization and renormalization scale dependence.

This letter reports the results of the measurement of single photon production in the reaction e + e − → γ + invisible particles at centre-of-mass energies s =130 and 136 GeV and an integrated luminosity of 5.83 pb −1 , collected with the DELPHI detector at LEP. The signal is compatible with the prediction of the Standard Model for the process e + e − → ν ν γ , and the number of neutrino families has been determined to be N ν = 3.1 ± 0.6. Limits have been derived on anomalous neutral gauge boson couplings and on compositeness in the framework of a specific model.

The inclusive production of the neutral vector mesons K*0(892) and ϕ(1020), and of the tensor meson ${⤪ K}_{2}^{⇒t 0}(1430)$, in hadronic decays of the Z has been measured by the DELPHI detector at LEP. The average production rates per hadronic Z decay have been determined to be 0.77 ± 0.08 K*0(892), 0.104 ± 0.008 ϕ(1020) and ${⤪ K}_{2}^{⇒t 0}(1430)$. The ratio of the tensor-to-vector meson production yields, $«ngle {⤪ K}_{2}^{⇒t 0}(1430)»ngle$, is smaller than the 〈f2(1270)〉/〈ρ0(770)〉 and $«ngle f_{2}^{⌕ime}(1525)»ngle$ ratios measured by DELPHI. The production rates and differential cross sections are compared with the predictions of JETSET 7.4 tuned to the DELPHI data and of HERWIG 5.8. The K*0(892) and ϕ(1020) data are compatible with model predictions, but a large disagreement is observed for the ${⤪ K}_{2}^{⇒t 0}(1430)$.