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.
The hadronic fragmentation functions of the various quark flavours and of gluons are measured in a study of the inclusive hadron production from Z 0 decays with the DELPHI detector and are compared with the fragmentation functions measured elsewhere at energies between 14 GeV and 91 GeV. A large scaling violation is observed, which is used to extract the strong coupling constant from a fit using a numerical integration of the second order DGLAP evolution equations. The result is α s ( M Z ) = 0.124 −0.007 +0.006 (exp) ± 0.009(theory) where the first error represents the experimental uncertainty and the second error is due to the factorization and renormalization scale dependence.
The inclusive production of the f ′ 2 (1525) in hadronic Z 0 decays has been studied in data collected by the DELPHI detector at LEP. The Ring Imaging Cherenkov detectors were important tools in the identification of the decay f ′ 2 (1525) → K + K − . The average number of f ′ 2 (1525) produced per hadronic Z decay, 〈f′ 2 〉 = 0.020 ± 0.005 (stat) ± 0.006 (syst), and the momentum distribution of the f ′ 2 (1525) have both been measured. The mass and width of the f ′ 2 (1525) are found to be 〈M f′ 2 〉 = 1535 ± 5 (stat) ± 4 (syst) MeV/c 2 , (T f′ 2 ;) = 60 ± 20 (stat) ± 19 (syst) MeV/c 2
An analysis is presented of inclusive π0 production in Z0 decays measured with the DELPHI detector. At low energies, π0 decays are reconstructed by using pairs of converted photons and combinations of converted photons and photons reconstructed in the barrel electromagnetic calorimeter (HPC). At high energies (up to $x_p={2cdot p≪/{sqrt s}=0.75}$) the excellent granularity of the HPC is exploited to search for two-photon substructures in single showers. The inclusive differential cross section is measured as a function of energy for qq̅ and bb̅ events. The number of π0’s per hadronic Z0 event is $N(≪^0)/Z_{had} ^0=9.2pm 0.2({⤪ stat})pm 1.0 ({⤪ syst})$ and for bb̅ events the number of π0’s is ${⤪ N}(≪^0)/{⤪ b⋏r b}=10.1pm 0.4({⤪ stat})pm 1.1 ({⤪ syst})$. The ratio of the number of π0’s in bb̅ events to hadronic Z0 events is less affected by the systematic errors and is found to be 1.09 ±0.05 ±0.01. The measured π0 cross sections are compared with the predictions of different parton shower models. For hadronic events, the peak position in the $xi_{⤪ p}={⤪ ln}(1/{⤪ x_p})$ distribution is $xi_p^{⋆ar}=3.90_{-0.14}^{+0.24}.$ The average number of π0’s from the decay of primary B hadrons is found to be N(B → π0X)/B hadron = 2.78 ± 0.15(stat) ± 0.60(syst).
This analysis, based on a sample of 170000 hadronic Z0 decays, provides a measurement of the K ± and p/ p differential cross sections which is compared to string- and cluster fragmentation models. The total multiplicities for K ± and p/ p per hadronic event were found to be: NK = 2.26 ± 0.18 and N p = 1.07 ± 0.14. The positions ξ * of the maxima of the differential cross sections as a function of ξ = ln(1/ x p ) for K ± and p/ p were determined to be 2.63 ± 0.07 and 2.96 ± 0.16 respectively. A comparison of the ξ * values for various identified particles measured at LEP with the prediction of the Modified Leading Logarithm Approximation with Local Parton Hadron Duality model has been performed. The measured ξ * position as a function of the hadron mass, after corrections due to particle decays, is in agreement with the model calculation.
A measurement of the Δ ++ (1232) inclusive production in hadronic decays of the Z at LEP is presented, based on 1.3 million hadronic events collected by the DELPHI detector in the 1994 LEP running period. The DELPHI ring imaging Cherenkov counters are used for identifying hadrons. The average Δ ++ (1232) multiplicity per hadronic event is 0.079 ± 0.015 which is more than a factor of two below the JETSET, HERWIG and UCLA model predictions. It agrees with a recently proposed universal mass dependence of particle production rates in e + e − annihilations.
An analysis of inclusive production of K0 and the meson resonances K*±(892), ρ0(770),f0(975) andf2(1270) in hadronic decays of the Z0 is presented, based on about 973,000 multihadronic events collected by the DELPHI detector at LEP during 1991 and 1992. Overall multiplicities have been determined as 1.962±0.060 K0 mesons, 0.712±0.067 K*±(892) and 1.21±0.15ρ0(770) per hadronic Z0 decay. The average multiplicities off0(975) for scaled momentum,xp, in the range 0.05≤xp≤0.6 and off2(1270) for 0.05≤xp≤1.0 are 0.098±0.016 and 0.170±0.043 respectively. Thef0(975) and ρ0(770)xp-spectra have similar shapes. Thef2(1270)/ρ0(770) ratio increases withxp. The average multiplicities and the differential cross sections are compared with the JETSET Parton Shower model. The model with default parameters fails to reproduce the experimental K0 momentum spectrum at low momentum, describes the K*±(892) and ρ0(770)xp-spectrum shapes, but significantly overestimates their production rates.
An analysis of the production of the Λ baryon in the hadronic decays of the Z 0 is presented, based on about 993K multihadronic events collected by the DELPHI detector at LEP during 1991 and 1992. The differencial cross section of the Λ and the correlations between Λ and Λ produced in the same event are compared to current models, based both on string fragmentation and on cluster decay. The predictions of the string fragmentation model are found to give satisfactory agreements with the data, clearly better than those of the cluster model.
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