Inclusive production of $\mathrm{D^{*\pm}}$ mesons in two-photon collisions was measured by the L3 experiment at LEP. The data were collected at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 189$ GeV with an integrated luminosity of $176.4 \mathrm{pb^{-1}}$. Differential cross sections of the process $\mathrm{e^+e^- \to D^{*\pm} X}$ are determined as functions of the transverse momentum and pseudorapidity of the $\mathrm{D^{*\pm}}$ mesons in the kinematic region 1 GeV $< p_{T}^{\mathrm{D^*}} < 5 $ GeV and $\mathrm{|\eta^{D^*}|} < 1.4$. The cross section integrated over this phase space domain is measured to be $132 \pm 22(stat.) \pm 26(syst.)$ pb. The differential cross sections are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations.

We report on the observation of single W boson production in a data sample collected by the L3 detector at LEP2. The signal consists of large missing energy final states with a single energetic lepton or two hadronic jets. The cross-section is measured to be 0.61 −0.33 +0.43 ± 0.05 pb at the centre of mass energy s = 172 GeV , consistent with the Standard Model expectation. From this measurement the following limits on the anomalo γWW gauge couplingsare derived at 95% CL: −3.6 < Δκ γ < 1.5 and −3.6 < λ γ < 3.6.

We present a study of the inclusive ω and η′ production based on 3.1 million hadronic Z decays recorded with the L3 detector at LEP during 1991–1994. The production rates per hadronic Z decay have been measured to be 1.17±0.17 ω mesons and 0.25±0.04 η′ mesons. The production rates and the differential cross sections have been compared with predictions of the JETSET and the HERWIG Monte Carlo models. We have observed that the differential cross sections can be described by an analytical quantum chromodynamics calculation.

We report on measurements of the inclusive production rate of Sigma+ and Sigma0 baryons in hadronic Z decays collected with the L3 detector at LEP. The Sigma+ baryons are detected through the decay Sigma+ -> p pi0, while the Sigma0 baryons are detected via the decay mode Sigma0 -> Lambda gamma. The average numbers of Sigma+ and Sigma0 per hadronic Z decay are measured to be: &lt; N_Sigma+ > + &lt; N_Sigma+~ > = 0.114 +/- 0.011 (stat) +/- 0.009 (syst), &lt; N_Sigma0 > + &lt; N_Sigma0~ > = 0.095 +/- 0.015 (stat) +/- 0.013 (syst). These rates are found to be higher than the predictions from Monte Carlo hadronization models and analytical parameterizations of strange baryon production.

The cross section of charm production in γγ collisions σ(e + e − →e + e − c c ̄ X) is measured at LEP with the L3 detector at centre-of-mass energies from 91 GeV to 183 GeV. Charmed hadrons are identified by electrons and muons from semileptonic decays. The direct process γγ→c c ̄ is found to be insufficient to describe the data. The measured cross section values and event distributions require contributions from resolved processes, which are sensitive to the gluon density in the photon.

We present the first observation of exclusive $e^+e^-$ production in hadron-hadron collisions, using $p\bar{p}$ collision data at \mbox{$\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV} taken by the Run II Collider Detector at Fermilab, and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of \mbox{532 pb$^{-1}$}. We require the absence of any particle signatures in the detector except for an electron and a positron candidate, each with transverse energy {$E_T>5$ GeV} and pseudorapidity {$|\eta|<2$}. With these criteria, 16 events are observed compared to a background expectation of {$1.9\pm0.3$} events. These events are consistent in cross section and properties with the QED process \mbox{$p\bar{p} \to p + e^+e^- + \bar{p}$} through two-photon exchange. The measured cross section is \mbox{$1.6^{+0.5}_{-0.3}\mathrm{(stat)}\pm0.3\mathrm{(syst)}$ pb}. This agrees with the theoretical prediction of {$1.71 \pm 0.01$ pb}.

The reaction e + e − → e + e − γ ∗ γ ∗ → e + e − hadrons is analysed using data collected by the L3 detector during the LEP runs at s = 130−140 GeV and s = 161 GeV . The cross sections σ(e + e − → e + e − hadrons) and σ(γγ → hadrons) are measured in the interval 5 ≤ W γγ ≤ 75 GeV. The energy dependence of the σ(γγ → hadrons) cross section is consistent with the universal Regge behaviour of total hadronic cross sections.

We report on the first measurements of e + e − annihilations into hadrons and lepton pairs at centre-of-mass energies between 130 GeV and 140 GeV. In a total luminosity of 5 pb −1 collected with the L3 detector at LEP we select 1577 hadronic and 401 lepton-pair events. The measured cross sections and leptonic forward-backward asymmetries agree well with the Standard Model predictions.

We report on the measurement of W-boson pair-production with the L3 detector at LEP at a centre-of-mass energy of 161.34 GeV. In a data sample corresponding to a total luminosity of 11 pb −1 , we select four-fermion events with high invariant masses of pairs of hadronic jets or leptons. Combining all final states, the measured total cross section for W-pair production is: sigma WW = 2.89 −0.70 +0.81 (stat.) ± 0.14 (syst.) pb. Within the Standard Model, this corresponds to a mass of the W boson of: M W = 80.80 −0.42 +0.48 (exp.) ± 0.03 (LEP) GeV. Limits on anomalous triple-vector-boson couplings are derived.

The pair production of Z bosons is studied using the data collected by the L3 detector at LEP in 1998 in e+e- collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 189 GeV. All the visible final states are considered and the cross section of this process is measured to be 0.74 +0.15 -0.14 (stat.) +/- 0.04 (syst.) pb. Final states containing b quarks are enhanced by a dedicated selection and their production cross section is found to be 0.18 +0.09 -0.07 (stat.) +/- 0.02 (syst.) pb. Both results are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions. Limits on anomalous couplings between neutral gauge bosons are derived from these measurements.

The two-photon collision reaction e + e − → e + e − l + l − has been studied at 2 ≈91 GeV using the L3 detector at LEP for l = e, μ , τ . We have analysed untagged configurations where the two photons are quasi-real. Good agreement is found between our measurements and the O (α 4 ) QED expectation.

We report on the measurement of W-boson pair-production with the L3 detector at LEP. In a data sample corresponding to a total luminosity of 55.47 pb −1 collected at an average centre-of-mass energy of 182.68 GeV , we select 824 four-fermion events with pairs of hadronic jets or pairs of leptons with high invariant masses. Branching fractions of W decays into different fermion-antifermion pairs are determined. Assuming charged-current lepton universality, the branching fraction for hadronic W decays is measured to be: B( W→hadrons )=70.1±1.3 (stat.)±0.4 (syst.) % . Combining all final states the total cross section for W-pair production is measured to be: σ WW =16.53±0.67 (stat.)±0.26 (syst.) pb.

We report the first measurement of the cross section for Z boson pair production at a hadron collider. This result is based on a data sample corresponding to 1.9 fb-1 of integrated luminosity from ppbar collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. In the llll channel, we observe three ZZ candidates with an expected background of 0.096^{+0.092}_{-0.063} events. In the llnunu channel, we use a leading-order calculation of the relative ZZ and WW event probabilities to discriminate between signal and background. In the combination of llll and llnunu channels, we observe an excess of events with a probability of $5.1\times 10^{-6}$ to be due to the expected background. This corresponds to a significance of 4.4 standard deviations. The measured cross section is sigma(ppbar -> ZZ) = 1.4^{+0.7}_{-0.6} (stat.+syst.) pb, consistent with the standard model expectation.

Using the data recorded with the L3 detector at LEP, we study the process e + e − → μ + μ − ( γ ) for events with hard initial-state photon radiation. The effective centre-of-mass energies of the muons range from 50 GeV to 86 GeV. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 103.5 pb −1 and yields 293 muon-pair events with a hard photon along the beam direction. The events are used to determine the cross sections and the forward-backward charge asymmetries at centre-of-mass energies below the Z resonance.

The inclusive production of η mesons has been studied using 1.6 million hadronic Z decays collected with the L3 detector. The η multiplicity per event, the multiplicity for two-jet and three-jet events separately, and the multiplicity in each jet have been measured and compared with the predictions of different Monte Carlo programs. The momentum spectra of η in each jet have also been measured. We observe that the measured η momentum spectrum in quark-enriched jets agrees well with the Monte Carlo prediction while in gluon-enriched jets it is harder than that predicted by the Monte Carlo models.

We report on the measurement of W-boson pair-production with the L3 detector at LEP at an average centre-of-mass energy of 172.13 GeV. In a data sample corresponding to a total luminosity of 10.25 pb −1 we select 110 four-fermion events with pairs of hadronic jets or leptons with high invariant masses. Branching fractions of W decays into different fermion-antifermion pairs are determined with and without the assumption of charged-current lepton universality. The branching fraction for hadronic W decays is measured to be: B (W → hadrons) = 64.2 −3.8 +3.7 (stat.) ± 0.5 (syst.) %. Combining all final states the total cross section for W-pair production is measured to be: σ WW = 12.27 −1.32 +1.41 (stat.) ± 0.23 (syst.) pb. The results are in good agreement with the Standard Model.

We present a measurement of the $W$-boson-pair production cross section in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at 1.96 TeV center-of-mass energy and the first measurement of the differential cross section as a function of jet multiplicity and leading-jet energy. The $W^{+}W^{-}$ cross section is measured in the final state comprising two charged leptons and neutrinos, where either charged lepton can be an electron or a muon. Using data collected by the CDF experiment corresponding to $9.7~\rm{fb}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity, a total of $3027$ collision events consistent with $W^{+}W^{-}$ production are observed with an estimated background contribution of $1790\pm190$ events. The measured total cross section is $\sigma(p\bar{p} \rightarrow W^{+}W^{-}) = 14.0 \pm 0.6~(\rm{stat})^{+1.2}_{-1.0}~(\rm{syst})\pm0.8~(\rm{lumi})$ pb, consistent with the standard model prediction.

We report on measurements of e + e − annihilation into hadrons and lepton pairs. The data have been taken with the L3 detector at LEP at center-of-mass energies between 161 GeV and 172 GeV. In a data sample corresponding to 21.2 pb −1 of integrated luminosity 2728 hadronic and 868 lepton-pair events are selected. The measured cross sections and leptonic forward-backward asymmetries agree well with the Standard Model predictions.

We present a new measurement of the $B^+$ meson differential cross section $d\sigma/d p_T$ at $\sqrt{s}=1960$ GeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 739pb$^{-1}$ collected with the upgraded CDF detector (CDF II) at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. $B^+$ candidates are reconstructed through the decay $B^+ \to J/\psi K^+$, with $J/\psi \to \mu^+ \mu^-$. The integrated cross section for producing $B^+$ mesons with $p_T \geq 6$ GeV/c and $|y| \leq 1$ is measured to be $2.78 \pm 0.24 \mu$b

Single W boson production in electron-positron collisions is studied with the L3 detector at LEP. The data sample collected at a centre-of-mass energy of \sqrt{s} = 188.7GeV corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 176.4pb^-1. Events with a single energetic lepton or two acoplanar hadronic jets are selected. Within phase-space cuts, the total cross-section is measured to be 0.53 +/- 0.12 +/- 0.03 pb, consistent with the Standard Model expectation. Including our single W boson results obtained at lower \sqrt{s}, the WWgamma gauge couplings kappa_gamma and lambda_gamma are determined to be kappa_gamma = 0.93 +/- 0.16 +/- 0.09 and lambda_gamma = -0.31 +0.68 -0.19 +/- 0.13.

A measurement of the $\bjet$ production cross section is presented for events containing a $Z$ boson produced in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the CDF II detector at the Tevatron. $Z$ bosons are selected in the electron and muon decay modes. Jets are considered with transverse energy $E_T>20$ GeV and pseudorapidity $|\eta|<1.5$ and are identified as $\bjets$ using a secondary vertex algorithm. The ratio of the integrated $Z+\bjet$ cross section to the inclusive $Z$ production cross section is measured to be $3.32 \pm 0.53 {\rm (stat.)} \pm 0.42 {\rm (syst.)}\times 10^{-3}$. This ratio is also measured differentially in jet $E_T$, jet $\eta$, $Z$-boson transverse momentum, number of jets, and number of $\bjets$. The predictions from leading order Monte Carlo generators and next-to-leading-order QCD calculations are found to be consistent with the measurements within experimental and theoretical uncertainties.

We have studied the structure of hadronic events with a hard, isolated photon in the final state (e + e − → Z → hadrons + γ) in the 3.6 million hadronic events collected with the L3 detector at centre-of-mass energies around 91 GeV. The centre-of-mass energy of the hadronic system is in the range 30 GeV to 86 GeV. Event shape variables have been measured at these reduced centre-of-mass energies and have been compared with the predictions of different QCD Monte Carlo programs. The event shape variables and the energy dependence of their mean values are well reproduced by QCD models. We fit distributions of several global event shape variables to resummed O (α s 2 ) calculations to determine the strong coupling constant α s over a wide range of energies. We find that the strong coupling constant α s decreases with increasing energy, as expected from QCD.

We report on measurements of hadronic and leptonic cross sections and leptonic forward-backward asymmetries performed with the L3 detector in the years 1993-95. A total luminosity of 103 pb^-1 was collected at centre-of-mass energies \sqrt{s} ~ m_Z and \sqrt{s} ~ m_Z +/- 1.8 GeV which corresponds to 2.5 million hadronic and 245 thousand leptonic events selected. These data lead to a significantly improved determination of Z parameters. From the total cross sections, combined with our measurements in 1990-92, we obtain the final results: m_Z = 91189.8 +/- 3.1 MeV, Gamma_Z = 2502.4 +/- 4.2 MeV, Gamma_had = 1741.1 +/- 3.8 MeV, Gamma_l = 84.14 +/- 0.17 MeV. An invisible width of Gamma_inv = 499.1 +/- 2.9 MeV is derived which in the Standard Model yields for the number of light neutrino species N_nu = 2.978 +/- 0.014. Adding our results on the leptonic forward-backward asymmetries and the tau polarisation, the effective vector and axial-vector coupling constants of the neutral weak current to charged leptons are determined to be \bar{g}_V^l = -0.0397 +/- 0.0017 and \bar{g}_A^l = -0.50153 +/- 0.00053.Including our measurements of the Z -> b \bar{b} forward-backward and quark charge asymmetries a value for the effective electroweak mixing angle of sin^2\bar{\theta}_W = 0.23093 +/- 0.00066 is derived. All these measurements are in good agreement with the Standard Model of electroweak interactions. Using all our measurements of electroweak observables an upper limit on the mass of the Standard Model Higgs boson of m_H &lt; 133 GeV is set at 95% confidence level.

The total and differential cross sections of the process e+e- -> n gamma with n >= 2 are measured using data collected by the L3 experiment at centre-of-mass energies of \sqrt{s}=183 and 189 GeV. The results are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. Limits are set on deviations from QED, contact interaction cut-off parameters and masses of excited electrons.

We present a study of the structure of hadronic events recorded by the L3 detector at center-of-mass energies of 130 and 136 GeV. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5 pb −1 collected during the high energy run of 1995. The shapes of the event shape distributions and the energy dependence of their mean values are well reproduced by QCD models. From a comparison of the data with resummed O (α s 2 ) QCD calculations, we determine the strong coupling constant to be α s (133 GeV) = 0.107 ± 0.005(exp) ± 0.006(theor).