Measurements are presented of the inclusive charged-particle cross sections s dσdx for e+e− annihilation at center-of-mass energies of 5.2, 6.5, and 29.0 GeV. Significant scale breaking is observed in these cross sections.
We have studied several features of the production of charged-hardon pairs by γγ collisions. We have measured the f0 partial width Γf0→γγ(Q2) for Q2 in the range 0<Q2<1.4 GeV2/c2, and obtained Γf0→γγ=2.52±0.13±0.38 keV at Q2≈0. The measured Q2 dependence is in agreement with the generalized vector-dominance model. The cross section for γγ→(π+π−+K+K−) in the mass region 1.6≤Mππ≤2.5 GeV/c2 has also been measured and the result compared with that expected from the QCD continuum.
The production of the charmed meson state D*+ has been observed in e+e− annihilation at 29 GeV. The fragmentation function for charmed quarks appears to be peaked about z=0.5.
The global topologies of inclusive three-- and four--jet events produced in $\pp$ interactions are described. The three-- and four--jet events are selected from data recorded by the D\O\ detector at the Tevatron Collider operating at a center--of--mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 1800$ GeV. The measured, normalized distributions of various topological variables are compared with parton--level predictions of tree--level QCD calculations. The parton--level QCD calculations are found to be in good agreement with the data. The studies also show that the topological distributions of the different subprocesses involving different numbers of quarks are very similar and reproduce the measured distributions well. The parton shower Monte Carlo generators provide a less satisfactory description of the topologies of the three-- and four--jet events.
Earlier measurements at LEP of isolated hard photons in hadronic Z decays, attributed to radiation from primary quark pairs, have been extended in the ALEPH experiment to include hard photon productioninside hadron jets. Events are selected where all particles combine democratically to form hadron jets, one of which contains a photon with a fractional energyz≥0.7. After statistical subtraction of non-prompt photons, the quark-to-photon fragmentation function,D(z), is extracted directly from the measured 2-jet rate. By taking into account the perturbative contributions toD(z) obtained from anO(ααs) QCD calculation, the unknown non-perturbative component ofD(z) is then determined at highz. Provided due account is taken of hadronization effects nearz=1, a good description of the other event topologies is then found.
Using the CELLO detector, we have measured cross sections for the processγγ→π+π− in the mass range 0.75–1.9 GeV/c2. A partial wave fit to the data indicates the presence of a sizeableS-wave amplitude with signs of resonant behaviour. Values for the γγ width of thef2(1270) are given, showing the model-dependence of this quantity. At higher dipion masses, the model of Brodsky and Lepage is found to give an order of magnitude description of the data.
The hadronic final states observed with the ALEPH detector at LEP in ${\rm e}^ + {\rm e}^-$ annihilation
The structure of hadronic events fromZ0 decay is studied by measuring event shape variables, factorial moments, and the energy flow distribution. The distributions, after correction for detector effects and initial and final state radiation, are compared with the predictions of different QCD Monte Carlo programs with optimized parameter values. These Monte Carlo programs use either the second order matrix element or the parton shower evolution for the perturbative QCD calculations and use the string, the cluster, or the independent fragmentation model for hadronization. Both parton shower andO(α2s matrix element based models with string fragmentation describe the data well. The predictions of the model based on parton shower and cluster fragmentation are also in good agreement with the data. The model with independent fragmentation gives a poor description of the energy flow distribution. The predicted energy evolutions for the mean values of thrust, sphericity, aplanarity, and charge multiplicity are compared with the data measured at different center-of-mass energies. The parton shower based models with string or cluster fragmentation are found to describe the energy dependences well while the model based on theO(α2s calculation fails to reproduce the energy dependences of these mean values.
We present a study of the inclusive production of neutral pions and charged particles from 112 000 hadronic Z 0 decays. The measured inclusive momentum distributions can be reproduced by parton shower Monte Carlo programs and also by an analytical QCD calculation. Comparing our results to e + e − data between √ s = 9 and 91 GeV, we findfind that the evolution of the spectra with center of mass energy is consistent with the QCD predictions.
We present a study of jet multiplicities based on 37 000 hadronic Z 0 boson decays. From this data we determine the strong coupling constant α s =0.115±0.005 ( exp .) −0.010 +0.012 (theor.) to second order QCD at √ s =91.22GeV.