Scaled momentum distributions for the strange hadrons K0s and Lambda/bar Lambda were measured in deep inelastic ep scattering with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 330 pb-1. The evolution of these distributions with the photon virtuality, Q2, was studied in the kinematic region 10<Q2<40000 GeV2 and 0.001<x<0.75, where x is the Bjorken scaling variable. Clear scaling violations are observed. Predictions based on different approaches to fragmentation were compared to the measurements. Leading-logarithm parton-shower Monte Carlo calculations interfaced to the Lund string fragmentation model describe the data reasonably well in the whole range measured. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations based on fragmentation functions, FFs, extracted from e+e- data alone, fail to describe the measurements. The calculations based on FFs extracted from a global analysis including e+e-, ep and pp data give an improved description. The measurements presented in this paper have the potential to further constrain the FFs of quarks, anti-quarks and gluons yielding K0s and Lambda/bar Lambda strange hadrons.
The nature of b-quark jet hadronisation has been investigated using data taken at the Z peak by the DELPHI detector at LEP. Two complementary methods are used to reconstruct the energy of weakly decaying b-hadrons, E^weak_B. The average value of x^weak_B = E^weak_B/E_beam is measured to be 0.699 +/- 0.011. The resulting x^weak_B distribution is then analysed in the framework of two choices for the perturbative contribution (parton shower and Next to Leading Log QCD calculation) in order to extract measurements of the non-perturbative contribution to be used in studies of b-hadron production in other experimental environments than LEP. In the parton shower framework, data favour the Lund model ansatz and corresponding values of its parameters have been determined within PYTHIA~6.156 from DELPHI data: a= 1.84^{+0.23}_{-0.21} and b=0.642^{+0.073}_{-0.063} GeV^-2, with a correlation factor rho = 92.2%. Combining the data on the b-quark fragmentation distributions with those obtained at the Z peak by ALEPH, OPAL and SLD, the average value of x^weak_B is found to be 0.7092 +/- 0.0025 and the non-perturbative fragmentation component is extracted. Using the combined distribution, a better determination of the Lund parameters is also obtained: a= 1.48^{+0.11}_{-0.10} and b=0.509^{+0.024}_{-0.023} GeV^-2, with a correlation factor rho = 92.6%.
Measurements of the Xi- and anti-Xi+ masses, mass differences, lifetimes and lifetime differences are presented. The anti-Xi+ sample used is much larger than those used previously for such measurements. In addition, the Xi production rates in Z -> b anti-b and Z -> q anti-q events are compared and the position xi* of the maximum of the xi distribution in Z -> q anti-q events is measured.
Flavour inclusive, udsc and b fragmentation functions in unbiased jets, and flavour inclusive, udsc, b and gluon fragmentation functions in biased jets are measured in e+e- annihilations from data collected at centre-of-mass energies of 91.2, and 183-209 GeV with the OPAL detector at LEP. The unbiased jets are defined by hemispheres of inclusive hadronic events, while the biased jet measurements are based on three-jet events selected with jet algorithms. Several methods are employed to extract the fragmentation functions over a wide range of scales. Possible biases are studied in the results are obtained. The fragmentation functions are compared to results from lower energy e+e- experiments and with earlier LEP measurements and are found to be consistent. Scaling violations are observed and are found to be stronger for the fragmentation functions of gluon jets than for those of quarks. The measured fragmentation functions are compared to three recent theoretical next-to-leading order calculations and to the predictions of three Monte Carlo event generators. While the Monte Carlo models are in good agreement with the data, the theoretical predictions fail to describe the full set of results, in particular the b and gluon jet measurements.
Infrared and collinear safe event shape distributions and their mean values are determined in e+e- collisions at centre-of-mass energies between 45 and 202 GeV. A phenomenological analysis based on power correction models including hadron mass effects for both differential distributions and mean values is presented. Using power corrections, alpha_s is extracted from the mean values and shapes. In an alternative approach, renormalisation group invariance (RGI) is used as an explicit constraint, leading to a consistent description of mean values without the need for sizeable power corrections. The QCD beta-function is precisely measured using this approach. From the DELPHI data on Thrust, including data from low energy experiments, one finds beta_0 = 7.86 +/- 0.32 for the one loop coefficient of the beta-function or, assuming QCD, n_f = 4.75 +/- 0.44 for the number of active flavours. These values agree well with the QCD expectation of beta_0=7.67 and n_f=5. A direct measurement of the full logarithmic energy slope excludes light gluinos with a mass below 5 GeV.
Low x deep-inelastic ep scattering data, taken in 1994 at the H1 detector at HERA, are analysed in the Breit frame of reference. The evolution of the peak and width of the current hemisphere fragmentation function is presented as a function of Q and compared with e+e- results at equivalent centre of mass energies. Differences between the average charged multiplicity and the multiplicity of e+e- annihilations at low energies are analysed. Invariant energy spectra are compared with MLLA predictions. Distributions of multiplicity are presented as functions of Bjorken-x and Q^2, and KNO scaling is discussed.
Using data collected in the region of the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the CLEO II detector operating at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring CESR, we present the first observation of B mesons decaying into the charmed strange baryons Xi_c0 and Xi_c+. We find 79 +/- 27 Xi_c0 and 125 +/- 28 Xi_c+ candidates from B decays, leading to product branching fractions of BR(Bbar -> Xi_c0 X)BR(Xi_c0 -> Xi- pi+) = (0.144 +/- 0.048 +/- 0.021) x 10~-3 and BR(Bbar -> Xi_c+ X)BR(Xi_c+ -> Xi- pi+ pi+) = (0.453 +/- 0.096 +0.085-0.065) x 10~-3.
Deep inelastic scattering (DIS) events, selected from 1993 data taken by the H1 experiment at HERA, are studied in the Breit frame of reference. The fragmentation function of the quark is compared with those of \ee data. It is shown that certain aspects of the quarks emerging from within the proton in \ep interactions are essentially the same as those of quarks pair-created from the vacuum in \ee annihilation. The measured area, peak position and widthof the fragmentation function show that the kinematic evolution variable, equivalent to the \ee squared centre of mass energy, is in the Breit frame the invariant square of the four-momentum transfer. We comment on the extent to which we have evidence for coherence effects in parton showers.
We have studied the production of D*± mesons in a sample of 1.25 million multihadronic decays of the Z0, in which 1969 candidates have been identified. We have determined the total multiplicity of charged D* mesons in multihadronic Z0 decays to be
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−.