First measurements of the mass and width of the Z 0 performed at the newly commissioned LEP Collider by the DELPHI Collaboration are presented. The measuements are derived from the study of multihadronic final states produced in e + e − annihilations at several energies around the Z 0 mass. The values found for the mass and width are M (Z 0 )=91.06±0.09 (stat) ±0.045 (syst.) GeV and Γ (Z 0 )=2.42±0.21 (stat.) GeV respectively, froma three-parameter fit to the line shape. A two-parameter fit in the framework of the standard model yields for the number of light neutrino species N ν =2.4±0.4 (stat.) ±0.5 (syst.).
A test of the QED process e+e- -> gamma gamma (gamma) is reported. The data analysed were collected with the DELPHI detector in 1998 and 1999 at the highest energies achieved at LEP, reaching 202 GeV in the centre-of-mass. The total integrated luminosity amounts to 375.7 pb^{-1}. The differential and total cross-sections for the process e+e- -> gamma gamma were measured, and found to be in agreement with the QED prediction. 95% Confidence Level (C.L.) lower limits on the QED cut-off parameters of Lambda+ > 330 GeV and Lambda- > 320 GeV were derived. A 95% C.L. lower bound on the mass of an excited electron of 311 GeV/c^2 (for lambda_gamma = 1) was obtained. s-channel virtual graviton exchange was searched for, resulting in 95% C.L. lower limits on the string mass scale, M_S: M_S > 713 GeV/c^2 (lambda = 1) and M_S > 691 GeV/c^2 (lambda = -1).
The total and the differential cross-sections for the reaction e + e − → γγ ( γ ) have been measured with the DELPHI detector at LEP at centre-of-mass energies from 130 to 183 GeV for an integrated luminosity of 78.19 pb −1 . The results agree with the QED predictions. The lower limits (obtained including previously published results at the Z 0 energies) on the QED cutoff parameters are Λ + >253 GeV and Λ − >225 GeV and the lower bound on the mass of an excited electron with an effective coupling constant λ γ =1 is 231 GeV/ c 2 . All the limits are at the 95% confidence level.
A ϱπ enhancement with mass 1.67 ± 0.02GeV and width 0.16 ± 0.02GeV is observed in the channel γp→pπ + π − π 0 . Assuming an incoherent background, the cross section × branching ratio is 100 ± 20 nb. A spin-parity analysis favours J P = 1 − . The enhancement is most simply interpreted as a radial recurrence of the ω meson.
The DELPHI detector at LEP has collected 54 pb^{-1} of data at a centre-of-mass energy around 183 GeV during 1997, 158 pb^{-1} around 189 GeV during 1998, and 187 pb^{-1} between 192 and 200 GeV during 1999. These data were used to measure the average charged particle multiplicity in e+e- -> b bbar events, <n>_{bb}, and the difference delta_{bl} between <n>_{bb} and the multiplicity, <n>_{ll}, in generic light quark (u,d,s) events: delta_{bl}(183 GeV) = 4.55 +/- 1.31 (stat) +/- 0.73 (syst) delta_{bl}(189 GeV) = 4.43 +/- 0.85 (stat) +/- 0.61 (syst) delta_{bl}(200 GeV) = 3.39 +/- 0.89 (stat) +/- 1.01 (syst). This result is consistent with QCD predictions, while it is inconsistent with calculations assuming that the multiplicity accompanying the decay of a heavy quark is independent of the mass of the quark itself.
The total and differential cross-sections for the reaction e + e − → γγ ( γ ) are measured at centre of mass energies around 91 GeV using an integrated luminosity of 4.7 pb −1 . The aggreement with QED prediction is good. Consequently there is no evidence for non-standard channels which would have the same experimental signature. The lower limits on the QED cuttoff parameters are Λ + > 113 GeV and Λ − > 95 GeV. An upper limit on the effective coupling between a possible excited electron and the gamma is derived. At 95% confidence level the branching ratios for Z 0 decay into π 0 γ, ηψ and γγγ are below 1.5 × 10 −4 , 2.8 × 10 −4 and 1.4 × 10 −4 respectively.
A determination of the partial width Γ c c ̄ of the Z 0 boson into charm quark pairs is presented, based on a total sample of 36 900 Z 0 hadronic decays measured with the DELPHI detector at the LEP collider. The production rate of cc̄ events is derived from the inclusive analysis of charged pions coming from the decay of charmed meson D ∗+ → D 0 π + and D ∗− → D ̄ 0 π − where the π ± is constrained by kinematics to have a low p T with respect to the axis. The probability to produce these π ± from D ∗± decay in cc̄ events is taken to be 0.31 ±_0.05 as measured at √ s =10.55 GeV. The measured relative partial width Γ c c ̄ Γ h = 0.162± 0.030 ( stat. ) ±0.050 ( syst. ) is in good agreement with the standard moel value of 0.171. Together with our previous measurement of the total hadronic width Γ h this implies Γ c c ̄ = 282±53 ( stat. )±88( syst. ) MeV .
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,