For the first time at LEP the production of prompt photons is studied in the collisions of quasi-real photons using the OPAL data taken at e+e- centre-of-mass energies between 183 GeV and 209 GeV. The total inclusive production cross-section for isolated prompt photons in the kinematic range of photon transverse momentum larger than 3.0 GeV and absolute photon pseudorapidity less than 1 is determined to be 0.32 +- 0.04 (stat) +- 0.04 (sys) pb. Differential cross-sections are compared to the predictions of a next-to-leading-order (NLO) calculation.
Differential cross section in XLL-. See paper for definition of XLL- which is a measurement of the fraction of the initial photons momenta participating inthe hard interaction.
The process e+ e- -> e+ e- Z/gamma* is studied with the OPAL detector at LEP at a centre of mass energy of sqrt(s) = 189 GeV. The cross-section times the branching ratio of the Z/gamma* decaying into hadrons is measured within Lorentz invariant kinematic limits to be (1.2 +/- 0.3 +/- 0.1) pb for invariant masses of the hadronic system between 5 GeV and 60 GeV and (0.7 +/- 0.2 +/- 0.1) pb for hadronic masses above 60 GeV. The differential cross-sections of the Mandelstam variables s-hat, t-hat, and u-hat are measured and compared with the predictions from the Monte Carlo generators grc4f and PYTHIA. From this, based on a factorisation ansatz, the total and differential cross-sections for the subprocess e gamma -> e Z/gamma* are derived.
Measured values of the cross section times the branching ratio for the (Z0/GAMMA*) decay into hadrons within the restricted kinematic limits.
Differential cross-section dsig_ee/dm_qq.
Differential cross-section dsigma_ee/dsqrt(shat).
A measurement of triple gauge boson couplings is presented, based on W-pair data recorded by the OPAL detector at LEP during 1998 at a centre-of-mass energy of 189 GeV with an integrated luminosity of 183 pb^-1. After combining with our previous measurements at centre-of-mass energies of 161-183 GeV we obtain k_g=0.97 +0.20 -0.16, g_1^z=0.991 +0.060 -0.057 and lambda_g=-0.110 +0.058 -0.055, where the errors include both statistical and systematic uncertainties and each coupling is determined by setting the other two couplings to their SM values. These results are consistent with the Standard Model expectations.
Triple gauge boson couplings. All systematic errors are added in quadrature.
A study of W-pair production in e+e- annihilations at Lep2 is presented, based on 877 W+W- candidates corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 57 pb-1 at sqrt(s) = 183 GeV. Assuming that the angular distributions of the W-pair production and decay, as well as their branching fractions, are described by the Standard Model, the W-pair production cross-section is measured to be 15.43 +- 0.61 (stat.) +- 0.26 (syst.) pb. Assuming lepton universality and combining with our results from lower centre-of-mass energies, the W branching fraction to hadrons is determined to be 67.9 +- 1.2 (stat.) +- 0.5 (syst.)%. The number of W-pair candidates and the angular distributions for each final state (qqlnu,qqqq,lnulnu) are used to determine the triple gauge boson couplings. After combining these values with our results from lower centre-of-mass energies we obtain D(kappa_g)=0.11+0.52-0.37, D(g^z_1)=0.01+0.13-0.12 and lambda=-0.10+0.13-0.12, where the errors include both statistical and systematic uncertainties and each coupling is determined setting the other two couplings to the Standard Model value. The fraction of W bosons produced with a longitudinal polarisation is measured to be 0.242+-0.091(stat.)+-0.023(syst.). All these measurements are consistent with the Standard Model expectations.
Total W+ W- cross section measurement. The DSYS error corresponds to the total systematic error.
Cross section for W+ W- production in different decay channels. The DSYS error corresponds to the total systematic error.
Measurements are presented of the polarisation of W+W- boson pairs produced in e+e- collisions, and of CP-violating WWZ and WWGamma trilinear gauge couplings. The data were recorded by the OPAL experiment at LEP during 1998, where a total integrated luminosity of 183 pb^-1 was obtained at a centre-of-mass energy of 189 GeV. The measurements are performed through a spin density matrix analysis of the W boson decay products. The fraction of W bosons produced with longitudinal polarisation was found to be sigma_L/sigma_total = (21.0 +- 3.3 +- 1.6)% where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. The joint W boson pair production fractions were found to be sigma_TT/sigma_total = (78.1 +- 9.0 +- 3.2) %, sigma_LL/sigma_total = (20.1 +- 7.2 +- 1.8) % and sigma_TL/sigma_total = (1.8 +- 14.7 +- 3.8) %. In the CP-violating trilinear gauge coupling sector we find kappa_z = -0.20 +0.10 -0.07, g^z_4 = -0.02 +0.32 -0.33 and lambda_z = -0.18 +0.24 -0.16, where errors include both statistical and systematic uncertainties. In each case the coupling is determined with all other couplings set to their Standard Model values except those related to the measured coupling via SU(2)_LxU(1)_Y symmetry. These results are consistent with Standard Model expectations.
Individual W-boson transverse polarised cross-sections.
Individual W-boson longitudinal polarised cross-sections.
W pair polarized cross-sections. (C=TT), (C=LL), and (C=TL) stand for both W transversely polarised, for both W longitudinally polarised, and for transversely and longitudinally polarisedW-bosons, respectively.
The production of charm quarks is studied in deep-inelastic electron-photon scattering using data recorded by the OPAL detector at LEP at normal e+e- centre-of-mass energies from 183 to 209 GeV. The charm quarks have been identified by full reconstruction of charged D* mesons using their decays into D0pi with the D0 observed in two decay modes with charged particle final states, Kpi and K3pi. The cross-section sigma(D*) for production of charged D* in the reaction e+e- -> e+e-D*X is measured in a restricted kinematical region using two bins in Bjorken x, 0.0014 < x < 0.1 and 0.1 < x < 0.87. From sigma(D*) the charm production cross-section sigma(e+e- -> e+e- ccbar X) and the charm structure function of the photon F 2,c are determined in the region 0.0014 < x < 0.87 and 5 < Q2 < 100 GeV2. For x > 0.1 the perturbative QCD calculation at next-to-leading order agrees perfectly with the measured cross-section. For x < 0.1 the measured cross-section is 43.8 +- 14.3 +- 6.3 +- 2.8 pb with a next-to-leading order prediction of 17.0+2.9-2.3 p.b
The inclusive D* production cross section.
The inclusive charm quark pair cross section. The second DSYS error is due to extrapolation.
The measured structure function F2(C=CHARM). The second DSYS error is due to extrapolation.
From a data sample of 183 pb^-1 recorded at a center-of-mass energy of roots = 189 GeV with the OPAL detector at LEP, 3068 W-pair candidate events are selected. Assuming Standard Model W boson decay branching fractions, the W-pair production cross section is measured to be sigmaWW = 16.30 +- 0.34(stat.) +- 0.18(syst.) pb. When combined with previous OPAL measurements, the W boson branching fraction to hadrons is determined to be 68.32 +- 0.61(stat.) +- 0.28(syst.) % assuming lepton universality. These results are consistent with Standard Model expectations.
Total W+ W- pair production cross section.
Cross sections for the individual decay modes of the W+ W-.
The magnitude of the CKM matrix element Vub is determined by measuring the inclusive charmless semileptonic branching fraction of beauty hadrons at OPAL based on b -> Xu l nu event topology and kinematics. This analysis uses OPAL data collected between 1991 and 1995, which correspond to about four million hadronic Z decays. We measure Br(b -> Xu l) to be (1.63 +/- 0.53 +0.55/-0.62) x 10^(-3). The first uncertainty is the statistical error and the second is the systematic error. From this analysis, Vub is determined to be: |Vub| = (4.00 +/- 0.65(stat) +0.67/-0.76(sys) +/- 0.19(HQE)) x 10^(-3). The last error represents the theoretical uncertainties related to the extraction of |Vub| from Br(b -> Xu l) using the Heavy Quark Expansion.
CKM is Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix element. The last DSYS error comes from the theoretical uncertainty.
A study of Z boson pair production in e+e- annihilation at center-of-mass energies near 183 GeV and 189 GeV is reported. Final states containing only leptons, (l+l-l+l- and l+l-nu nubar), quark and lepton pairs, (q qbar l+l-, q qbar nu nubar) and the all-hadronic final state (q qbar q qbar) are considered. In all states with at least one Z boson decaying hadronically, q qbar and b bbar final states are considered separately using lifetime and event-shape tags, thereby improving the cross-section measurement. At sqrt(s) = 189 GeV the Z-pair cross section was measured to be 0.80 (+0.14-0.13, stat.) (+0.06-0.05, syst.) pb, consistent with the Standard Model prediction. At sqrt(s) = 183 GeV the 95% C.L. upper limit is 0.55 pb. Limits on anomalous ZZgamma and ZZZ couplings are derived.
Measured cross sections for Z0 pair production.
The charged particle multiplicities of two- and three-jet events from the reaction e+e- -> Z0 -> hadrons are measured for Z0 decays to light quark (uds) flavors. Using recent theoretical expressions to account for biases from event selection, results corresponding to unbiased gluon jets are extracted over a range of jet energies from about 11 to 30 GeV. We find consistency between these results and direct measurements of unbiased gluon jet multiplicity from upsilon and Z0 decays. The unbiased gluon jet data including the direct measurements are compared to corresponding results for quark jets. We perform fits based on analytic expressions for particle multiplicity in jets to determine the ratio r = Ng/Nq of multiplicities between gluon and quark jets as a function of energy. We also determine the ratio of slopes, r(1) = (dNg/dy)/(dNq/dy), and of curvatures, r(2) = (d2Ng/dy2)/(d2Nq/dy2), where y specifies the energy scale. At 30 GeV, we find r = 1.422 +/- 0.051, r(1) = 1.761 +/- 0.071 and r(2) = 1.98 +/- 0.13, where the uncertainties are the statistical and systematic terms added in quadrature. These results are in general agreement with theoretical predictions. In addition, we use the measurements of the energy dependence of Ng and Nq to determine an effective value of the ratio of QCD color factors, CA/CF. Our result, CA/CF = 2.23 +/- 0.14 (total), is consistent with the QCD value of 2.25.
Measurements of the mean charged particle multiplicity of biased two-jet uds flavour events from Z0 decays as a function of the transverse momentum cutoff PT(C=LU) used to separate two- and three-jet events.
Measurements of the mean charged particle multiplicity of three-jet uds flavour 'Y events' from Z0 decays, as a function of the angle THETA1 between the lowest two energy jets. The results for the quark jet scale SQRT(S(C=QQBAR)) and the gluon jet scales PT(C=LU) and PT(C=LE) are also given.
Measurements of the unbiased gluon multiplicity as a function of the energy scale Q=PT(C=LU). The corresponding bins of THETA1 in 'Y events' are also indicated.
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