In this Report, QCD results obtained from a study of hadronic event structure in high energy e^+e^- interactions with the L3 detector are presented. The operation of the LEP collider at many different collision energies from 91 GeV to 209 GeV offers a unique opportunity to test QCD by measuring the energy dependence of different observables. The main results concern the measurement of the strong coupling constant, \alpha_s, from hadronic event shapes and the study of effects of soft gluon coherence through charged particle multiplicity and momentum distributions.
Jet fractions using the JADE algorithm as a function of the jet resolution parameter YCUT at c.m. energy 130.1 GeV.
Jet fractions using the JADE algorithm as a function of the jet resolution parameter YCUT at c.m. energy 136.1 GeV.
Jet fractions using the JADE algorithm as a function of the jet resolution parameter YCUT at c.m. energy 161.3 GeV.
The multiplicity structure of the hadronic system X produced in deep-inelastic processes at HERA of the type ep -> eXY, where Y is a hadronic system with mass M_Y< 1.6 GeV and where the squared momentum transfer at the pY vertex, t, is limited to |t|<1 GeV^2, is studied as a function of the invariant mass M_X of the system X. Results are presented on multiplicity distributions and multiplicity moments, rapidity spectra and forward-backward correlations in the centre-of-mass system of X. The data are compared to results in e+e- annihilation, fixed-target lepton-nucleon collisions, hadro-produced diffractive final states and to non-diffractive hadron-hadron collisions. The comparison suggests a production mechanism of virtual photon dissociation which involves a mixture of partonic states and a significant gluon content. The data are well described by a model, based on a QCD-Regge analysis of the diffractive structure function, which assumes a large hard gluonic component of the colourless exchange at low Q^2. A model with soft colour interactions is also successful.
The multiplicity moment MULT as a function of the mass of the charged hadron system in the full phase space and separately in the forward and backward hemispheres.
The multiplicity moment DISPERSION as a function of the mass of the charged hadron system in the full phase space and separately in the forward and backward hemispheres.
The multiplicity moment R2 as a function of the mass of the charged hadron system in the full phase space and separately in the forward and backward hemispheres.
Previously published and as yet unpublished QCD results obtained with the ALEPH detector at LEP1 are presented. The unprecedented statistics allows detailed studies of both perturbative and non-perturbative aspects of strong interactions to be carried out using hadronic Z and tau decays. The studies presented include precise determinations of the strong coupling constant, tests of its flavour independence, tests of the SU(3) gauge structure of QCD, study of coherence effects, and measurements of single-particle inclusive distributions and two-particle correlations for many identified baryons and mesons.
Charged particle sphericity distribution.
Charged particle aplanarity distribution.
Charged particle Thrust distribution.