We have measured the mean charged particle multiplicities separately for bbbar, ccbar and light quark (uubar, ddbar, ssbar) initiated events produced in e+e- annihilations at LEP. The data were recorded with the OPAL detector at eleven different energies above Z0 peak, corresponding to the full statistics collected at LPE1.5 and LEP2. The difference in mean charged and particle multiplicities for bbbar and light quark events, delta_bl, measured over this energy range is consistent with an energy independent behaviour, as predicted by QCD, but is inconsistent with the prediction of a more phenomenological approach which assumes that the multiplicity accompanying the decay of a heavy quark is independent of the quark mass itself. Our results, which can be combined into the single measurement delta_bl = 3.44+-0.40(stat)+-0.89(syst) at a luminosity weighted average centre-of mass energy of 195 GeV, are also consistent with an energy independent behaviour as extrapolated from lower energy data.
Exclusive production of π and K meson pairs in two photon collisions is measured with ALEPH data collected between 1992 and 2000. Cross-sections are presented as a function of cos θ ∗ and invariant mass, for | cos θ ∗ |<0.6 and invariant masses between 2.0 and 6.0 GeV/ c 2 (2.25 and 4.0 GeV/ c 2 ) for pions (kaons). The shape of the distributions are found to be well described by QCD predictions but the data have a significantly higher normalization.
Measurements of the tau lepton polarization and forward-backward polarization asymmetry near the Z resonance using the OPAL detector are described. The measurements are based on analyses of tau -> e nu_e nu_tau, tau -> mu nu_mu nu_tau, tau -> pi nu_tau, tau -> rho nu_tau and tau -> a1 nu_tau decays from a sample of 144810 e+e- -> tau+ tau- candidates corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 151 pb-1. Assuming that the tau lepton decays according to V-A theory, we measure the average tau polarization near Ecm = MZ to be <Ptau> = (-14.10 +/- 0.73 +/- 0.55)% and the tau polarization forward-backward asymmetry to be Afb = (-10.55 +/- 0.76 +/- 0.25)%, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. Taking into account the small effects of the photon propagator, photon-Z interference and photonic radiative corrections, these results can be expressed in terms of the lepton neutral current asymmetry parameters: Atau = 0.1456 +/- 0.0076 +/- 0.0057, Ae = 0.1454 +/- 0.0108 +/- 0.0036. These measurements are consistent with the hypothesis of lepton universality and combine to give Al = 0.1455 +/- 0.0073. Within the context of the Standard Model this combined result corresponds to sin^2(theta)(lept,effective) = 0.23172 +/- 0.00092. Combing these results with those from the other OPAL neutral current measurements yields a value of sin^2(theta)(lept,effective) = 0.23211 +/- 0.00068.
The polarisation of $\tau$'s produced in Z decay is measured using 160 pb$^{-1}$ of data accumulated at LEP by the ALEPH detector between 1990 and 1995. The variation of the polarisation with polar angle yields the two parameters ${\cal A}_e = 0.1504 \pm 0.0068 $ and ${\cal A}_{\tau} = 0.1451 \pm 0.0059$ which are consistent with the hypothesis of $e$-$\tau$ universality. Assuming universality, the value ${\cal A}_{e{-}\tau} = 0.1474 \pm 0.0045$ is obtained from which the effective weak mixing angle $\sin^2 {\theta_{\mathrm{W}}^{\mathrm{eff}}} =0.23147 \pm 0.00057 $ is derived.
The production of D+- and D0 mesons has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 133.6 pb-1. The measurements cover the kinematic range 5 < Q^2 < 1000 GeV^2, 0.02 < y < 0.7, 1.5 < p_T^D < 15 GeV and eta^D < 1.6. Combinatorial background to the D meson signals is reduced by using the ZEUS microvertex detector to reconstruct displaced secondary vertices. Production cross sections are compared with the predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD which is found to describe the data well. Measurements are extrapolated to the full kinematic phase space in order to obtain the open-charm contribution, F2^ccbar, to the proton structure function, F2.
Using a data sample with a total integrated luminosity of 10.0 pb$^{-1}$ collected at center-of-mass energies of 2.6, 3.07 and 3.65 GeV with BESII, cross sections for $e^+e^-$ annihilation into hadronic final states ($R$ values) are measured with statistical errors that are smaller than 1%, and systematic errors that are about 3.5%. The running strong interaction coupling constants $\alpha_s^{(3)}(s)$ and $\alpha_s^{(5)}(M_Z^2)$ are determined from the $R$ values.
The production rates of D*+-, Ds*+-, D+-, D0 / D0bar, Ds+, and Lambda_c in Z to ccbar decays are measured using the LEP I data sample recorded by the ALEPH detector. The fractional energy spectrum of the D*+- is well described as the sum of three contributions: charm hadronisation, b hadron decays and gluon splitting into a pair of heavy quarks. The probability for a c quark to hadronise into a D*+ is found to be f(c to D*+) = 0.233 +- 0.010 (stat.) +- 0.011 (syst.). The average fraction of the beam energy carried by D*+- mesons in Z to cc events is measured to be < X_E (D*+-) >_cc = 0.4878 +- 0.0046 (stat.) +- 0.0061 (syst.). The D*+- energy and the hemisphere mass imbalance distributions are simultaneously used to measure the fraction of hadronic Z decays in which a gluon splits to a cc pair: n_{gluon to cc} = (3.23 +- 0.48 (stat.) +- 0.53 (syst.) %. The ratio of the Vector/(Vector+Pseudoscalar) production rates in charmed mesons is found to be P_V = 0.595 +- 0.045. The fractional decay width of the Z into cc pairs is determined from the sum of the production rates for various weakly decaying charmed states to be Rc = 0.1738 +- 0.0047 (stat.) +- 0.0116 (syst.).
By analyzing the data sets of 17.3 pb$^{-1}$ taken at $\sqrt s= 3.773$ GeV and of 6.5 pb$^{-1}$ taken at $\sqrt s= 3.650$ GeV with the BES-II detector at the BEPC collider, we measure the observed cross sections for the exclusive light hadron final states of $K_S^0K^-\pi^+$, $K_S^0K^-\pi^+\pi^0$, $K_S^0K^-\pi^+\pi^+\pi^-$, $K_S^0K^-\pi^+\pi^+\pi^-\pi^0$, $K_S^0K^-\pi^+\pi^+\pi^+\pi^-\pi^-$ and $K_S^0K^-\pi^+\pi^0\pi^0$ produced in $e^+ e^-$ annihilation at the two energy points. We set the upper limits on the observed cross sections and the branching fractions for $\psi(3770)$ decay to these final states at 90% C.L..
We study the processes $e^+ e^-\to K^+ K^- \pi^+\pi^-\gamma$, $K^+K^-\pi^0\pi^0\gamma$ and $K^+ K^- K^+ K^-\gamma$, where the photon is radiated from the initial state. About 34600, 4400 and 2300 fully reconstructed events, respectively, are selected from 232 \invfb of \babar data. The invariant mass of the hadronic final state defines the effective \epem center-of-mass energy, so that the $K^+ K^- \pi^+\pi^-\gamma$ data can be compared with direct measurements of the $e^+ e^-\to K^+K^- \pipi$ reaction/ no direct measurements exist for the $e^+ e^-\to K^+ K^- \pi^0\pi^0$ or $\epem\to K^+ K^- K^+ K^-$ reactions. Studying the structure of these events, we find contributions from a number of intermediate states, and we extract their cross sections where possible. In particular, we isolate the contribution from $e^+ e^-\to\phi(1020) f_{0}(980)$ and study its structure near threshold. In the charmonium region, we observe the $J/\psi$ in all three final states and several intermediate states, as well as the $\psi(2S)$ in some modes, and measure the corresponding branching fractions. We see no signal for the Y(4260) and obtain an upper limit of $\BR_{Y(4260)\to\phi\pi^+\pi^-}\cdot\Gamma^{Y}_{ee}<0.4 \ev$ at 90% C.L.
This paper reports measurements of processes: e+e- -> gamma KsK+pi-, e+e- -> gamma K+K-pi0, e+e- -> gamma phi eta, and e+e- -> gamma phi pi0. The initial state radiated photon allows to cover the hadronic final state in the energy range from thresholds up to ~4.6 GeV. The overall size of the data sample analyzed is 232 fb-1, collected by the BaBar detector running at the PEP-II e+e- storage ring. From the Dalitz plot analysis of the KsK+pi- final state, moduli and relative phase of the isoscalar and the isovector components of the e+e- -> K K*(892) cross section are determined. Parameters of phi and rho recurrences are also measured, using a global fitting procedure which exploits the interconnection among amplitudes, moduli and phases of the e+e- -> KsK+pi-, K+K-pi0, phi eta final states. The cross section for the OZI-forbidden process e+e- -> phi pi0, and the J/psi branching fractions to KK*(892) and K+K-eta are also measured.
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