The interaction of virtual photons is investigated using double tagged gammagamma events with hadronic final states recorded by the ALEPH experiment at e^+e^- centre-of-mass energies between 188 and 209 GeV. The measured cross section is compared to Monte Carlo models, and to next-to-leading-order QCD and BFKL calculations.

The inclusive production of D$^{*\pm}$ mesons in two-photon collisions is measured with the ALEPH detector at $\epem$ centre-of-mass energies from 183$\unit{GeV}$ to 209$\unit{GeV}$. A total of $360 \pm 27$ D$^{*\pm}$ meson events were observed from an integrated luminosity of 699\unit{pb^{-1}}$. Contributions from direct and single-resolved rocesses are separated using the ratio of the transverse momentum $p_{\rm t}^{\rm D^{*\pm}}$ of the D$^{*\pm}$ to the visible invariant mass $W_{\mathrm{vis}}$ of the event. Differential cross sections of D$^{*\pm}$ production as functions of $p_{\rm t}^{\rm D^{*\pm}}$ and the pseudorapidity $|\eta^{\rm D^{*\pm}}| $ are measured in the range $ 2\unit{GeV}/c < p_{\rm t}^{\rm D^{*\pm}} < 12\unit{GeV}/c $ and $ |\eta^{\rm D^{*\pm}}| < 1.5 $. They are compared to next-to-leading order (NLO)perturbative QCD calculations. The extrapolation of the integrated visible D$^{*\pm}$ cross section to the total charm cross section, based on the Pythia Monte Carlo program, yields $ \sigma (\epem \to \epem \ccbar)_ {=197\unit{GeV}} = 731 \pm 74_{\mathrm{stat}} \pm 47_{\mathrm{syst}} \pm 157_{\mathrm{extr}} \unit{pb} $.

Inclusive π±, K± and\((p,\bar p)\) differential cross-sections in hadronic decays of the Z have been measured as a function ofz=Phadron/Pbeam, the scaled momentum. The results are based on approximately 520 000 events measured by the ALEPH detector at LEP during 1992. Charged particles are identified by their rate of ionization energy loss in the ALEPH Time Projection Chamber. The position, ξ*, of the peak in the ln(1/z) distribution is determined, and the evolution of the peak position with centre-of-mass energy is compared with the prediction of QCD.

A lower limit on the oscillation frequency of the B s 0 B s 0 system is obtained from approximately four million hadronic Z decays accumulated using the ALEPH detector at LEP from 1991 to 1995. Leptons are combined with opposite sign D s − candidates reconstructed in seven different decay modes as evidence of semileptonic B s 0 decays. Criteria designed to ensure precise proper time reconstruction select 277D s − ℓ + combinations. The initial state of these B s 0 candidates is determined using an algorithm optimized to efficiently utilise the tagging information available for each event. The limit at 95% confidence level on the B s 0 B s 0 oscillation frequency is Δm s > 6.6 ps −1 . The same data is used to update the measurement of the B s 0 lifetime, τ s = 1.54 −0.13 +0.14 (stat) ± 0.04 (syst) ps.

Using the ARGUS detector at the DORIS II storage ring, we have observed the charmed baryons Σ c ++ and Σ c 0 , through their decays to Λ c + π ± . We have measured the mean Σ c −Λ c + mass difference as 167.6±0.3±1.6 MeV/ c 2 . The isospin mass splitting between the Σ c ++ and the Σ c 0 was found to be 1.2±0.7±0.3 MeV/ c 2 . The rate of Λ c + production from Σ c decays was found to be (36±12±11)% of the total rate of Λ c + production. The Σ c χ p spectrum was observed to be similar to that of the Λ c + , with a Peterson function parameter ϵ of 0.29±0.06.

We report the first observation of an orbitally excited baryon, the Λ(1520), in quark and gluon fragmentation. The production rate is found to be (1.15±0.21±0.16)×10 −2 and (0.80±0.17 −0.13 +0.10 )×10 −2 Λ (1520) hyperons per event in direct ϒ decays and in the continuum, respectively. In contrast to the observed situation for ground state baryons, the production of the Λ(1520) in direct ϒ decays shows little or no enhancement with respect to continuum production.

Data are presented on the reaction e+e− → γ + no other detected particle at centre-of-mass energies of 89.48, 91.26 and 93.08 GeV. The cross-section for this reaction is related directly to the number of light neutrino generations which couple to the Z° boson, and to several other possible phenomena such as the production of excited neutrinos, the production of any invisible ‘X’ particle, and the magnetic moment of the tau neutrino. Based on the observed number of single photon events, the number of light neutrinos that couple to the Z° is measured to be Nv = 2.89 ± 0.38. No evidence is found for anomalous production of energetic single photons, and upper limits at 95% confidence level are determined for excited neutrino production (BR < 4 − 8 × 10−6 depending on its mass), production of an invisible ‘X’ particle (σ, < 0.1 pb for masses below 60 GeV), and the magnetic moment of the tau neutrino (< 5.1 × 10-6 μB).

A study of inclusive production of the meson resonances ρ 0 , K ∗0 (892), ƒ 0 (975) and ƒ 2 (1270) in hadronic decays of the Z 0 is presented. The measured mean meson multiplicity per hadronic event is 0.83 ± 0.14 for the ρ 0 0.64 ± 0.24 for the K ∗0 (892), 0.10 ± 0.04 for the ƒ 0 (975) in the momentum range p > 0.05 p beam ( x p > 0.05) and 0.11 ± 0.05 for the ƒ 2 (1270) for x p > 0.1 . These values and the corresponding differential cross sections ( 1 σ hadr ) d σ d x p for the vector mesons are in good agreement with the predictions of the JETSET 7.3 PS and HERWIG 5.4 models. The ƒ 2 (1270) production is overestimated by HERWIG but its x p -shape is correctly reproduced. The measured ratios of the production cross sections σ(ƒ 2 (1270)) σ(ρ 0 ) = 0.22 ± 0.08 and σ(ƒ 2 (1270)) σ(ƒ 0 (975)) = 3 −1 +7 for x p > 0.1 are consistent with the results obtained in hadronic reactions.

A study of the fragmentation properties of charm and bottom quarks intoD mesons is presented. From 263 700Z0 hadronic decays collected in 1991 with the DELPHI detector at the LEP collider,D0,D+ andD*+ are reconstructed in the modesK−π+,K−π+K+ andD0π+ followed byD0→K−π+, respectively. The fractional decay widths\(\Gamma {{(Z^0\to {D \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {D {\bar D}}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\bar D}}X)} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{(Z^0\to {D \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {D {\bar D}}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\bar D}}X)} {\Gamma _h }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\Gamma _h }}\) are determined, and first results are presented for the production ofD mesons from\(c\bar c\) and\(b\bar b\) events separately. The average energy fraction ofD*± in charm quark fragmentation is found to be 〈XE(D*)〉c=0.487±0.015 (stat)±0.005 (sys.). Assuming that the fraction ofDs and charm-baryons produced at LEP is similar to that around 10 GeV, theZ0 partial width into charm quark pairs is determined to beΓc/Γh=0.187±0.031 (stat)±0.023 (sys). The probability for ab quark to fragment into\(\bar B_s \) orb-baryons is inferred to be 0.268±0.094 (stat)±0.100 (sys) from the measured probability that it fragments into a\(\bar B^0 \) orB−.

A search has been made for direct production of heavy quarkonium states in more than 3 million hadronic Z0 decays in the 1991–1994 DELPHI data. Prompt J/ψ, ψ(2S) and Υ candidates have been searched for through their leptonic decay modes using criteria based on the kinematics and decay vertex positions. New upperlimits are set at the 90% confidence level for Br(Z0 → (QQ) X)/Br (Z0 → hadrons) for various strong production mechanisms of J/ψ and Υ these range down to 0.9 × 10−4. The limits are set in the presence of a small excess (∼ 1% statistical probability of a background fluctuation) in the sum of candidates from prompt J/ψ, ψ(2S), Υ(1S),Υ(2S) and Υ(3S) relative to the estimated background.