Cross-sections and angular distributions for hadronic and lepton pair final states in e+e- collisions at a centre-of-mass energy near 189 GeV, measured with the OPAL detector at LEP, are presented and compared with the predictions of the Standard Model. The results are used to measure the energy dependence of the electromagnetic coupling constant alpha_em, and to place limits on new physics as described by four-fermion contact interactions or by the exchange of a new heavy particle such as a sneutrino in supersymmetric theories with R-parity violation. A search for the indirect effects of the gravitational interaction in extra dimensions on the mu+mu- and tau+tau- final states is also presented.
Hadronic cross section.
The cross sections for hadronic, and muon- and tau-pair production in the two sprime/s regions.
The cross sections for electron -pair production with various angular cuts.
The differential cross-sections for e + e − → e + e − , e + e − → μ + μ − and e + e − → τ + τ − , and the total cross-section for e + e − → qq̄ at centre-of-mass energies of 130–140 GeV were studied using about 5 pb −1 of data collected with the OPAL detector at LEP in October and November 1995. The results are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions. Four-fermion contact interaction models were fitted to the data and lower limits were obtained on the energy scale Λ at the 95% confidence level.
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We have measured the process e+e−→μ+μ− at √s =29 GeV using the High Resolution Spectrometer at SLAC PEP. The forward-backward charge asymmetry is Aμμ=-(4.9±1.5±0.5)% based on 5057 events. A subsample of 3488 μ+μ− events in the angular range ‖cosθ‖<0.55 gives a cross-section ratio of Rμμ=0.990±0.017±0.030. The resulting couplings of the weak neutral current are gaegaμ=0.208±0.064± 0.021 and gvegvμ=0.027 ±0.051±0.089. The QED cutoff parameters are Λ+>170 GeV and Λ−>146 GeV at 95% C.L.
Corrected for acceptance and O(alpha**3) QED radiation. Numerical values taken from SUGANO-ANL-HEP-CP-84-90.
Forward-backward asymmetry based on fit to angular distribution. Result is given combined with earlier data from BENDER et al.
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During the initial data run with the High Resolution Spectrometer (HRS) at SLAC PEP, an integrated luminosity of 19.6 pb−1 at a center-of-mass energy of 29 GeV was accumulated. The data on Bhabha scattering and muon pair production are compared with the predictions of QED and the standard model of electroweak interactions. The measured forward-backward charge asymmetry in the angular distribution of muon pairs is -8.4%±4.3%. A comparison between the data and theoretical predictions places limits on alternative descriptions of leptons and their interactions. The existence of heavy electronlike or photonlike objects that alter the structure of the QED vertices or modify the propagator are studied in terms of the QED cutoff parameters. The Bhabha-scattering results give a lower limit on a massive photon and upper limits on the effective size of the electron of Λ+>121 GeV and Λ−>118 GeV at the 95% confidence level. Muon pair production yields Λ+>172 GeV and Λ−>172 GeV. If electrons have substructure, the magnitude and character of the couplings of the leptonic constituents affects the Bhabha-scattering angular distributions to such an extent that limits on the order of a TeV can be extracted on the effective interaction length of the components. For models in which the constituents interact with vector couplings of strength g24π∼1, the energy scale ΛVV for the contact interaction is measured to be greater than 1419.0 GeV at the 95% confidence level. We set limits on the production of supersymmetric scalar electrons through s-channel single-photon annihilation and t-channel inelastic scattering. Using events with two noncollinear electrons and no other charged or observed neutral particles in the final state, we see one event which is consistent with a simple supersymmetric model but which is also consistent with QED. This allows us to exclude the scalar electron to 95% confidence level in the mass range 1.8 to 14.2 GeV/c2.
Comparison of Bhabhas with QED.
Muon angular distributions.
Forward-backward asymmetry from full angular range.
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