This final analysis of hadronic and leptonic cross-sections and of leptonic forward-backward asymmetries in e+e- collisions with the OPAL detector makes use of the full LEP1 data sample comprising 161 pb^-1 of integrated luminosity and 4.5 x 10^6 selected Z decays. An interpretation of the data in terms of contributions from pure Z exchange and from Z-gamma interference allows the parameters of the Z resonance to be determined in a model-independent way. Our results are in good agreement with lepton universality and consistent with the vector and axial-vector couplings predicted in the Standard Model. A fit to the complete dataset yields the fundamental Z resonance parameters: mZ = 91.1852 +- 0.0030 GeV, GZ = 2.4948 +- 0.0041 GeV, s0h = 41.501 +- 0.055 nb, Rl = 20.823 +- 0.044, and Afb0l = 0.0145 +- 0.0017. Transforming these parameters gives a measurement of the ratio between the decay width into invisible particles and the width to a single species of charged lepton, Ginv/Gl = 5.942 +- 0.027. Attributing the entire invisible width to neutrino decays and assuming the Standard Model couplings for neutrinos, this translates into a measurement of the effective number of light neutrino species, N_nu = 2.984 +- 0.013. Interpreting the data within the context of the Standard Model allows the mass of the top quark, mt = 162 +29-16 GeV, to be determined through its influence on radiative corrections. Alternatively, utilising the direct external measurement of mt as an additional constraint leads to a measurement of the strong coupling constant and the mass of the Higgs boson: alfa_s(mZ) = 0.127 +- 0.005 and mH = 390 +750-280 GeV.

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We present a measurement of asymmetries in the production of $\Lambda_c^+$ and $\Lambda_c^-$ baryons in 500 GeV/c $\pi^-$--nucleon interactions from the E791 experiment at Fermilab. The asymmetries were measured as functions of Feynman x ($x_F$) and transverse momentum squared ($p_T^2$) using a sample of $1819 \pm 62$ $\Lambda_c$'s observed in the decay channel $\Lambda_c \to pK^-\pi^+$. We observe more $\Lambda_c^+$ than $\Lambda_c^-$ baryons, with an asymmetry of $(12.7\pm3.4\pm1.3) %$ independent of $x_F$ and $p_T^2$ in our kinematical range $(-0.1 < x_F < 0.6$ and $0.0 < p_T^2 < 8.0 (GeV/c)^2$). This $\Lambda_c$ asymmetry measurement is the first with data in both the positive and negative $x_F$ regions.

>From a sample of $2722 \pm 78$ $\Lambda_c~+$ decaying to the $pK~-\pi~+$ final state, we have observed, in the hadroproduction experiment E791 at Fermilab, $143 \pm 20$ $\Sigma_c~0$ and $122 \pm 18$ $\Sigma_c~{++}$ through their decays to $\Lambda_c~+ \pi~{\pm}$. The mass difference $M(\Sigma_c~0) - M(\Lambda_c~+$) is measured to be $(167.38\pm 0.29\pm 0.15)\,\mbox{MeV}$; for $M(\Sigma_c~{++}) - M(\Lambda_c~+)$, we find $(167.76\pm 0.29\pm0.15)\,\mbox{MeV}$. The rate of $\Lambda_c~+$ production from decays of the $\Sigma_c$ triplet is $(22\pm 2\pm 3)\,\mbox{\%}$ of the total $\Lambda_c~+$ production assuming equal rate of production from all three, as measured for $\Sigma_c~0$ and $\Sigma_c~{++}$. We do not observe a statistically significant $\Sigma_c$ baryon-antibaryon production asymmetry. The $x_F$ and $p_t~2$ spectra of $\Lambda_c~+$ from $\Sigma_c$ decays are observed to be similar to those for all $\Lambda_c~+$'s produced.

We measure the relative cross sections for D mesons produced in interactions of π− and π+ beams with targets of Be, Cu, Al, and W. The measurement is based on 1400 fully reconstructed decays of the types D0→K−π+, D+→K−π+π+, and charge conjugates. We find that the cross section for the production of both neutral and charged D’s by either π− or π+ is well fitted by the form Aα where A is the atomic mass and α=1.00±0.05±0.02, where the errors are statistical and systematic, respectively. There is no significant dependence of α on the transverse or longitudinal momentum of the D meson or on the charge of either the incident pion or the produced D mesons.

We present asymmetries between the production of D+ and D- mesons in Fermilab experiment E791 as a function of xF and pt**2. The data used here consist of 74,000 fully-reconstructed charmed mesons produced by a 500 GeV/c pi- beam on C and Pt foils. The measurements are compared to results of models which predict differences between the production of heavy-quark mesons that have a light quark in common with the beam (leading particles) and those that do not (non-leading particles). While the default models do not agree with our data, we can reach agreement with one of them, PYTHIA, by making a limited number of changes to parameters used.

We have measured the form factor ratios r_V = V(0)/A_1(0) and r_2 = A_2(0)/A_1(0) for the decay D_s^+ -> phi ell^+ nu_ell, phi -> K^+ K^-, using data from charm hadroproduction experiment E791 at Fermilab. Results are based on 144 signal and 22 background events in the electron channel and 127 signal and 34 background events in the muon channel. We combine the measurements from both lepton channels to obtain r_V = 2.27 +- 0.35 +- 0.22 and r_2 = 1.57 +- 0.25 +- 0.19.

We measure the neutral D total forward cross section and the differential cross sections as function of Feynman-x ($x_F$) and transverse momentum squared for 500 GeV/c $\pi^-$-nucleon interactions. The results are obtained from 88990+-460 reconstructed neutral D mesons from Fermilab experiment E791 using the decay channels $D\to K^-\pi^+$ and $D\to K^-\pi^+\pi^-\pi^+$ (and charge conjugates). We extract fit parameters from the differential cross sections and provide the first direct measurement of the turnover point in the $x_F$ distribution, 0.0131+-0.0038. We measure an absolute $D^0 + \bar{D^0}$ ($x_F > 0$) cross section of 15.4+1.8-2.3 microbarns/nucleon (assuming a linear A dependence). The differential and total forward cross sections are compared to theoretical predictions and to results of previous experiments.

We present the first measurement of the atomic mass dependence of central \Xi~- and \overline{\Xi}~+ production. It is measured using a sample of 22,459 \Xi~-'s and \overline{\Xi}~+'s produced in collisions between a 250 GeV \pi~- beam and targets of beryllium, aluminum, copper, and tungsten. The relative cross sections are fit to the two parameter function \sigma_0 A~\alpha, where A is the atomic mass. We measure \alpha = 0.924+-0.020+-0.025, for Feynman-x in the range -0.09 < x_F < 0.15.

We measure the differential cross sections with respect to Feynman x ( xF) and transverse momentum ( pT) for π, K, and p-induced charm meson production using fully reconstructed D+, D0, and Ds decays. The shapes of these cross sections are compared to the theoretical predictions for charm quark production of next-to-leading order perturbative QCD using modern parametrizations of the pion and nucleon parton distributions. We observe the differences expected in production induced by projectiles with different gluon distributions, harder distributions being indicated for mesons than for protons.