In this Report, QCD results obtained from a study of hadronic event structure in high energy e^+e^- interactions with the L3 detector are presented. The operation of the LEP collider at many different collision energies from 91 GeV to 209 GeV offers a unique opportunity to test QCD by measuring the energy dependence of different observables. The main results concern the measurement of the strong coupling constant, \alpha_s, from hadronic event shapes and the study of effects of soft gluon coherence through charged particle multiplicity and momentum distributions.
Using a data sample with a total integrated luminosity of 10.0 pb$^{-1}$ collected at center-of-mass energies of 2.6, 3.07 and 3.65 GeV with BESII, cross sections for $e^+e^-$ annihilation into hadronic final states ($R$ values) are measured with statistical errors that are smaller than 1%, and systematic errors that are about 3.5%. The running strong interaction coupling constants $\alpha_s^{(3)}(s)$ and $\alpha_s^{(5)}(M_Z^2)$ are determined from the $R$ values.
Production of Sigma- and Lambda(1520) in hadronic Z decays has been measured using the DELPHI detector at LEP. The Sigma- is directly reconstructed as a charged track in the DELPHI microvertex detector and is identified by its Sigma -> n pi decay leading to a kink between the Sigma- and pi-track. The reconstruction of the Lambda(1520) resonance relies strongly on the particle identification capabilities of the barrel Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector and on the ionisation loss measurement of the TPC. Inclusive production spectra are measured for both particles. The production rates are measured to be <N_{Sigma-}/N_{Z}^{had}> = 0.081 +/- 0.002 +/- 0.010, <N_{Lambda(1520)}/N_{Z}^{had}> = 0.029 +/- 0.005 +/- 0.005. The production rate of the Lambda(1520) suggests that a large fraction of the stable baryons descend from orbitally excited baryonic states. It is shown that the baryon production rates in Z decays follow a universal phenomenological law related to isospin, strangeness and mass of the particles.
The total cross section for e + e − annihilation into hadronic final states between 3.6 and 5.2 GeV was measured by the nonmagnetic inner detector of DASP, which has similar trigger and detection efficiencies for photons and charged particles. The measured difference in R = σ had / σμμ between 3.6 GeV and 5.2 GeV is ΔR = 2.1 ± 0.3. We observe three peaks at cm energies of 4.04, 4.16 and 4.417 GeV, the parameters of which, when interpreted as resonances, are given.
The cross section for the process e + e − → multihadrons has been measured at the highest PETRA energies. We measure R (the total cross section in units of the point-like e + e - → μ + μ - cross section) to be 2.9 ± 0.7, 4.0 ± 0.5, 4.6 ± 0.4 and 4.2 ± 0.6 at s of 22, 27.7, 30 and 31.6 GeV, respectively. The observed average multiplicity, together with existing low energy data, indicate a rapid increase in multiplicity with increasing energy.
The total cross section for electron-positron annihilation into three or more hadrons has been measured for centre of mass energies between 1.4 and 2.0 GeV. The data were obtained at ADONE by the BB̄ experiment.
We report on the results of the study of e + e − collisions at the highest PETRA energy of √ s = 31.57 GeV, using the 4π sr, electromagnetic and calorimetric detector Mark J. Based on 88 hadron events, and an integrated luminosity of 243 nb −1 we obtain R = σ (e + e − → hadrons)/ σ (e + e − → μ + μ − ) = 4.0 ± 0.5 (statistical) ± 6 (systematic). The R value, the measured thrust distribution and average spherocity show no evidence for the production of new quark flavors.
We have performed a search for narrow resonances in the center of mass energy range from 29.90 to 31.46 GeV using the e + e − storage ring PETRA at DESY. We present the total cross section for hadron production and an upper limit for resonance production, indicating that no bound state of charge- 2 3 quarks exists in this energy range.
We have observed e + e − hadrons at C.M. energies of 13 GeV and 17 GeV at PETRA using the TASSO detector. We find R (13 GeV) = 5.6 ± 0.7 and R (17 GeV) = 4.0 ± 0.7. The additional systematic uncertainty is 20%. Comparing inclusive charged hadron spectra we observe scaling between 5 GeV and 17 GeV for x = p / p beam > 0.2; however the 13 GeV cross section is above the 17 GeV cross section for smaller x . This may be due to copious bb̄ production. The events become increasingly jet like at high energies as evidenced by a shrinking sphericity distribution with increasing energy.
Results on e + e − annihilation into hadrons at c.m. energies between 22 and 31.6 GeV are presented. The data were accumulated with the PLUTO detector at PETRA. The events are dominantly of the two-jet type. The value of the relative hadronic cross section R =3.88 ± 0.22 along with the details of the sphericity and thrust distribution rule out an open (tt̄) channel (Q t = 2 3 ) below 30 GeV. The inclusive muon results support the above conclusion.