Data on p and Λ production by e + e − -annihilation at CM energies between 30 and 36 GeV are presented. Indication for an angular anticorrelation in events with baryon-antibaryon pairs is seen.

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Energy-energy-correlations (EEC) have been measured with the JADE detector at c.m. energies of 14 GeV, 22 GeV and in the region 29 GeV<Ecm<36 GeV. Corrected results are presented of EEC and their asymmetry, which can be directly compared to theoretical predictions. At 〈Ecm〉=34 GeV a comparison with second order QCD predictions yields good agreement for the string model fragmentation resulting in a value of the strong coupling constant αs=0.165±0.01 (stat.). The independent fragmentation models, which yield values of αs between 0.10 and 0.15 depending on the treatment of energy and momentum conservation and of the gluon splitting, do not provide a satisfactory description of the data over the full angular range.

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.

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The production of photons ine+e−→γ+hadrons is investigated at three centre of mass energies around 14, 22 and 34 GeV. On average, photons carry 25% of the total available energy, with a multiplicity similar to the charged multiplicity. The inclusive photon spectra are found to scale with the centre of mass energy as a function of the Feynman variablex. π0 and η mesons are reconstructed from their decay photons. The slopes of the spectra are similar to that for charged pions and approximate scaling is observed for π0 production. The mean π0 and η multiplicities are given. The observed photon yield can be fully accounted for by hadron decays and initial state radiation. However, up to one extra photon per event from other sources cannot be excluded.

A precise measurement of the ratio R of the total cross section e+e−→hadrons to the pointlike cross section e+e−→μ+μ− at a center-of-mass energy of 29.0 GeV is presented. The data were taken with the upgraded Mark II detector at the SLAC storage ring PEP. The result is R=3.92±0.05±0.09. The luminosity has been determined with three independent luminosity monitors measuring Bhabha scattering at different angular intervals. Recent calculations of higher-order QED radiative corrections are used to estimate the systematic error due to missing higher-order radiative corrections in the Monte Carlo event generators.

We have studied the energy-energy correlation in e+e− annihilation into hadrons at √s =29 GeV using the Mark II detector at the SLAC storage ring PEP. We find to O(αs2) that αs=0.158±0.003±0.008 if hadronization is described by string fragmentation. Independent fragmentation schemes give αs=0.10–0.14, and give poor agreement with the data. A leading-log shower fragmentation model is found to describe the data well.

We report on an analysis of the multiplicity distributions of charged particles produced ine+e− annihilation into hadrons at c.m. energies between 14 and 46.8 GeV. The charged multiplicity distributions of the whole event and single hemisphere deviate significantly from the Poisson distribution but follow approximate KNO scaling. We have also studied the multiplicity distributions in various rapidity intervals and found that they can be well described by the negative binomial distribution only for small central intervals. We have also analysed forward-backward multiplicity correlations for different energies and selections of particle charge and shown that they can be understood in terms of the fragmentation properties of the different quark flavours and by the production and decay of resonances. These correlations are well reproduced by the Lund string model.

The production cross sections for the Λ, Σ0, Ξ−, Σ0 (1385), Ξ0 (1530) and Ω− hyperons have been measured, both in the continuum and in direct ϒ decays. Baryon rates in direct ϒ decays are enhanced by a factor of 2.5 or more compared to the continuum. Such a large baryon enhancement cannot be explained by standard fragmentation models. The strangeness suppression for baryons and mesons turns out to be the same. A strong suppression of spin 3/2 states is observed.

The inclusive production of π± andK± mesons and of protons and antiprotons ine+e− annihilations has been measured at 34 GeV and 44 G

We report a high-precision measurement of the ratio R of the total cross section for e+e−→hadrons to that for e+e−→μ+μ−, at a center-of-mass energy of 29.0 GeV using the MAC detector. The result is R=3.96±0.09. This value of R is used to determine a value of the strong coupling constant αs of 0.23±0.06, nearly independent of fragmentation models. Two different analysis methods having quite different event-selection criteria have been used and the results are in agreement. Particular attention has been given to the study of systematic errors. New higher-order QED calculations are used for the luminosity determination and the acceptance for hadrons.

Results on inclusive K s 0 production in e + e − annihilation at mean center-of-mass energies of 9.4, 12.0 and 30 GeV are presented. The ratio R (K 0 ) = 2 σ (K s 0 )/ σ μμ rises from 3.10 ± 0.75 at √ s = 9.4 GeV to 5.6 ± 1.2 at √ s = 30 GeV, corresponding to an approximately constant K 0 /charged-particle ratio of 0.12 ± 0.02. A similar ratio for K 0 / charged particle is observed for direct hadronic decays of the ϒ.

Measurements of energy-energy correlations in hadronic final states produced in e + e − annihilation at c.m. energies between 7.7 and 31.6 GeV are presented. The data are compared to perturbative QCD predictions. Good qualitative agreement above 20 GeV c.m. energy is found. The importance of non-perturbative effects is discussed, as well as the detailed behaviour of the correlation near 180°.

The production of D * and D mesons has been studied in e + e − annihilations at √s = 29GeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 300 pb −1 , were obtained using the HRS detector at PEP. The cross section is measured to be R (D 0 + D + ) = 2.40±0.35 and we determine the electroweak asymmetry to be −9.9 ± 2.7%, which corresponds to an axial vector coupling constant product g e g c = 0.26 ± 0.07.

We present a study of differential two jet ratios in multi-hadronic final states produced by e + e − annihilation in the AMY detector at TRISTAN. The data are compared to the predictions of the next-to-leading logarithm parton-shower (NLL PS) Monte Carlo and the O ( α s 2 ) matrix element QCD models. We determine the strong coupling strength α s (57.3 GeV) = 0.130 ± 0.006.

e + e − annihilation into hadrons was studied at CM energies between 39.8 and 45.2 GeV and a search was made for new heavy quarks. No evidence was found for the existence of a narrow state excluding the possible existence of the lowest vector toponium state in this mass range. A search for continuum production of heavy quarks led to lower mass limits for new quarks of 22.0 GeV ( e Q = 2 3 ) and 21.0 GeV ( e Q = 1 3 ). Quarks are found to be pointlike, the corresponding mass parameter being larger than 288 GeV. A fit of the QCD and the electroweak contributions to R = σ tot / σ μμ yielded sin 2 θ W = 0.30 −0.07 +0.23 .

We have observed ϱ 0 production in e + e − annihilation to hadrons at high energies. The differential cross section at a centre of mass energy W , of 34 GeV, is presented. In the range 0.2< x < 0.7, we measure 0.33 ± 0.06 (stat.) ± 0.07 (syst.), 0.22 ± 0.06 ± 0.05 and 0.22 ± 0.02 ± 0.05 ϱ 0 /event at W = 14, 22 and 34 GeV respectively.

The ration R = σ (e + e − → hadrons) σ μμ was measured between 12.0 and 36.7 GeV c.m. energy W with a precision of typically ± 5.2%. R is found to be constant with an average R = 4.01 ± 0.03 (stat) ± (syst.) for W ⩾ 14 GeV. Quarks are found to be point-like, the mass parameter describing a possible quark form-factor being larger than 186 GeV. Fits including QCD corrections and a weak neutral-current contribution are presented.

The inclusive production of π± andK± mesons and of protons and antiprotons ine+e− annihilation has been measured at c.m. energies ofW=14, 22 and 34GeV. Using time of flight measurements and Cerenkov counters the full momentum range has been covered. Differential cross sections and total particle yields are given. At particle momenta of 0.4 GeV/c more than 90% of the charged hadrons are pions. With increasing momentum the fraction of pions among the charged hadrons decreases. AtW=34 GeV and a momentum of 5 GeV/c the particle fractions are approximately π±:K±:p,\(\bar p = 0.55:0.3:0.15\). On average an event atW=34 GeV contains 10.3±0.4π±, 2.0±0.2K± and 0.8±0.1p,\(\bar p\). In addition, we present results on baryon correlations using a sample of events where two or more protons and/or antiprotons are observed in the final state.

We have analyzed 1113 events of the reaction e + e − → hadrons at CM energies of 12 and 30 GeV in order to make a detailed comparison with QCD. Perturbative effects can be well separated from effects depending on the quark and gluon fragmentation parameters to yield a reliable measurement of the coupling constant α S . At 30 GeV, the result is α S = 0.17 ± 0.02 (statistical) ± 0.03 (systematic). QCD model predictions, using the fragmentation parameters determined along with α S , agree with both gross properties of the final states and with detailed features of the three-jet states.

The total hadronic cross section in e + e − annihilation has been measured at s = 57.77 GeV using 290 pb −1 data sample collected with the VENUS detector at KEK TRISTAN. The cross section obtained is 140.3 ±1.8 pb for s ′/ s ≥0.5, where s ′ is the square of the invariant mass of the final state hadrons. The present result together with the recent results from the LEP collaborations is used to determine the hadronic γ − Z 0 interference parameter, j tot had , to be 0.196±0.083. The result is in good agreement with the Standard Model prediction of 0.220.

With a PETRA energy scan in ≤30-MeV steps, the continuum production of open top quark up to 38.54 GeV is excluded. Over regions of energy scan from 29.90 to 38.63 GeV limits are set on the product of hadronic branching ratio and electronic width BhΓee for toponium to be less than 2.0 keV at the 95% confidence level. By a search for flavor-changing neutral currents in b decay, models without a top quark are excluded.

Cross sections are presented for the inclusive production of Λ hyperons in electron-positron annihilations at s=29 GeV based on the full 291-pb−1 sample of data taken in the High Resolution Spectrometer experiment at the SLAC e+e− storage ring PEP. These results, and the associated correlation analyses, are consistent with the Lund model predictions with the strange diquark suppression ratio δ fixed at 0.59±0.10±0.18, as compared to the standard Lund value of 0.32. The Λ multiplicity has been found to be 0.182±0.020 per event. The opposite-strangeness multiplicity 〈nΛΛ¯〉 has been measured to be 0.046±0.020, whereas the like-strangeness multiplicity 〈nΛΛ+Λ¯Λ¯〉 is 0.009±0.028. A strong correlation is found between Λ's and Λ¯'s; when one is found in an event, the other is found in the same event with a probability that exceeds 50%.

This report reviews the experimental investigation of high energy e + e − interactions by the MARK J collaboration at PETRA, the electron-positron colliding beam accelerator at DESY in Hamburg, Germany. The physics objectives include studies of several purely electromagnetic processes and hadronic final states, which further our knowledge of the nature of the fundamental constituents and of their strong, electromagnetic and weak interactions. Before discussing the physics results, the main features and the principal components of the MARK J detector are discussed in terms of design, function, and performance. Several aspects of the on-line data collection and the off-line analysis are also outlined. Results are presented on tests of quantum electrodynamics using e + e − → e + e − , μ + μ − and τ + τ − , on the measurement of R , the ratio of the hadronic to the point-like muon pair cross section, on the search for new quark flavors, on the discovery of three jet events arising from the radiation of hard noncollinear gluons as predicted by quantum chromodynamics, and on the determination of the strong coupling constant α s .

The multiplicities of charged secondaries in proton-proton collisions were determined using the split-field-magnet detector at the CERN Intersecting Storage Rings (ISR). Measurements are presented on multiplicity distributions both for inelastic and non-single-diffractive events at four different energies s=30.4, 44.5, 52.6, and 62.2 GeV. The results reported here represent the first high-statistics measurement of charged multiplicity distributions at ISR energies with a magnetic detector covering nearly the full solid angle.

In this paper, results are presented from a study of the hadronic final states in e+e− annihilation at 29 GeV. The data were obtained with the High Resolution Spectrometer (HRS) at the SLAC PEP e+e− colliding-beam facility. The results are based on 6342 selected events corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 pb−1. The distributions of the events in sphericity (S), thrust (T), and aplanarity (A) are given and compared to other e+e− data in the same energy range. We measure 〈S〉=0.130±0.003±0.010 and 〈1-T〉=0.100±0.002. The sphericity distribution is compared to sphericity measurements made for beam jets in hadronic collisions as well as jets studied in neutrino scattering. The data sample is further reduced to 4371 events with the two-jet selections, S≤0.25 and A≤0.1. The single-particle distributions in the longitudinal and transverse directions are given. For low values of the momentum fraction (z=2p/W), the invariant distribution shows a maximum at z∼0.06, consistent with a QCD expectation. The data at high Feynman x (xF) show distribution consistent with being dominated by a (1-xf)2 variation for the leading quark-meson transition. The rapidity distribution shows a shallow central minimum with a height (1/NevdNh/dY‖Y=0=2.3±0.02±0.07. The mean charged multiplicity is measured to be 〈nch〉=13.1±0.05±0.6. The mean transverse momentum relative to the thrust axis 〈pT〉 rises as a function of z to a value of 0.70±0.02 GeV/c for z≳0.3. The distributions are compared to those measured in other reactions.

We report measurements of single-particle inclusive spectra and two-particle correlations in decays of the Υ(1S) resonance and in nonresonant annihilations of electrons and positrons at center-of-mass energy 10.49 GeV, just below BB¯ threshold. These data were obtained using the CLEO detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR) and provide information on the production of π, K, ρ, K*, φ, p, Λ, and Ξ in quark and gluon jets. The average multiplicity of hadrons per event for upsilon decays (compared with continuum annihilations) is 11.4 (10.5) pions, 2.4 (2.2) kaons, 0.6 (0.5) ρ0, 1.2 (0.8) K*, 0.6 (0.4) protons and antiprotons, 0.15 (0.08) φ, 0.19 (0.07) Λ and Λ¯, and 0.016 (0.005) Ξ− and Ξ¯ +. We have also seen evidence for η and f0 production. The most significant differences between upsilon and continuum final states are (1) the inclusive energy spectra fall off more rapidly with increasing particle energy in upsilon decays, (2) the production of heavier particles, especially baryons, is not as strongly suppressed in upsilon decays, and (3) baryon and antibaryon are more likely to be correlated at long range in upsilon decay than in continuum events.

Data from the high-resolution spectrometer at PEP have been used to study the inclusive production of φ mesons and F± mesons decaying into φπ±. Fragmentation functions and cross sections are presented and compared to existing data. The total φ cross section at 29 GeV is 40±6 pb. The observed F signal in the region z>0.4, given the assumption that R(F)[R(F)+R(D)]=0.15, corresponds to an F→φπ branching ratio of (3.3±1.1)%. The measured F mass is 1963±3±3 MeV/c2.

We present measurements of forward-backward energy asymmetries of τ-lepton decay products from the reaction e+e−→τ+τ− in data collected with the MAC detector operating at the SLAC storage ring PEP at a center-of-mass energy of 29 GeV. The energy asymmetries for the decays τ→ντeν¯e, τ→ντμν¯μ, τ→ντπ, and τ→ντρ are interpreted as effects caused by the combination of maximally parity-violating weak τ decays and a longitudinal polarization produced by the interference of electromagnetic and weak processes. From the forward-backward polarization asymmetry AP=(0.06±0.07)×(1±0.011), we determine the coupling-constant product gaegvτ=(0.26 ±0.31)×(1±0.011). Assuming gae=-(1/2 as expected, we find gvτ=(-0.52±0.62)×(1±0.011), consistent with the prediction of the Glashow-Weinberg-Salam model of electroweak interactions. Alternatively, assuming the standard-model prediction of negligible polarization in τ-pair production, the leptonic energy spectra are used to measure the Michel parameter to be 0.79±0.10±0.10, consistent with the V-A hypothesis for the τν¯τ-W vertex.

We use the reaction e+e−→hadrons, in the Mark J detector at the DESY electron-positron collider PETRA, to determine the hadronic cross section up to 46.78 GeV. The production of a top quark with a charge equal to (2/3) is excluded up to 46.6 GeV with 95% C.L. The observed rise in the cross section at higher energies is consistent with the electroweak prediction for a Z0 mass of 93 GeV. We describe some unusual muon inclusive events.

Data from the High Resolution Spectrometer at the SLAC storage ring PEP have been used to study the inclusive production of baryons and mesons. Time-of-flight measurements are used to identify the charged hadrons. Neutral hadrons are identified from effective-mass peaks associated with their decay into two charged particles. Cross sections and other inclusive production characteristics are presented for π±, K±, and K0 (K¯0) mesons, and for the baryons (antibaryons) p (p¯) and Λ (Λ¯). The ratio of the inclusive cross section to the point cross section for the K0 and K¯0 mesons is R(K0,K¯0)=6.15±0.13±0.25, and for Λ and Λ¯, R(Λ,Λ¯)=0.846±0.036±0.085. The neutral-hadron differential cross sections are compared with the predictions of the Lund string model.

This paper presents the charged-particle multiplicity distributions for e+e− annihilation at √s =29 GeV measured in the High Resolution Spectrometer. The data, which correspond to an integrated luminosity of 185 pb−1, were obtained at the SLAC e+e− storage ring PEP. The techniques used to correct the observed prong numbers are discussed. The multiplicity distribution of the charged particles has a mean value 〈n〉=12.87±0.03±0.30, a dispersion D2=3.67±0.02±0.18, and an f2 moment of 0.60±0.02±0.18. Results are also presented for a two-jet sample selected with low sphericity and aplanarity. The charged-particle distributions are almost Poissonian and narrower than have been reported by other e+e− experiments in this energy range. The mean multiplicity increases with the event sphericity, and for the sample of threefold-symmetric three-jet events, a value of 〈n〉=16.3±0.3±0.7 is found. No correlation is observed between the multiplicities in the two hemispheres when the events are divided into two jets by a plane perpendicular to the thrust axis. This result is in contrast with the situation in soft hadronic collisions, where a strong forward-backward correlation is measured. For the single jets, a mean multiplicity of 6.43±0.02±0.15 and a dispersion value of D2=2.55±0.02±0.13 are found. These values give further support to the idea of independent jet fragmentation. The multiplicity distributions are well fit by the negative-binomial distribution. The semi-inclusive rapidity distributions are presented. Comparisons are made to the measurements of charged-particle multiplicities in hadron-hadron and lepton-nucleon collisions.

The energy-energy correlation cross section for hadrons produced in electron-positron annihilation at a center-of-mass energy of 29 GeV has been measured with the MAC detector at SLAC. The result is corrected for the effects of detector resolution, acceptance, and initial-state radiation. The correlation is measured in two independent ways on the same data sample: the energy weights and angles are obtained either from the energy flow in the finely segmented total absorption calorimeters or from the momenta of charged tracks in the central drift chamber. This procedure helps reduce systematic errors by cross-checking the effects of the detector on the measurement, particularly important because the corrections depend on complex Monte Carlo simulations. The results are compared with the predictions of Monte Carlo models of complete second-order perturbative quantum chromodynamics and fragmentation, with the following conclusions: (1) fitting the asymmetry for large correlation angles gives values for αS of 0.120±0.006 in perturbation theory, 0.185±0.013 in the Lund string model, and values which vary from 0.105 to 0.140 (±0.01) in the incoherent jet models, depending on the gluon fragmentation scheme and the algorithm used for momentum conservation; and (2) the string fragmentation model provides a satisfactory description of the measured energy-energy correlation cross section, whereas incoherent jet formation does not.

The ratio R of the total cross section for e+e− annihilation into hadrons to the lowest-order QED cross section for e+e−→μ+μ− has been measured for center-of-mass energies ranging from 50 to 61.4 GeV. If we allow for an overall shift of —4.9%, about 1.5 times our estimated normalization error, the results are consistent with the standard-model predictions.

We present the charged-particle multiplicity distributions for e+e− annihilation at center-of-mass energies from 50 to 61.4 GeV. The results are based on a data sample corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 30 pb−1 obtained with the AMY detector at the KEK storage ring TRISTAN. The charged-particle multiplicity distributions deviate significantly from the modified Poisson and pair Poisson distributions, but follow Koba-Nielsen-Olesen scaling and are well reproduced by the LUND parton-shower model.

Total and differential K0 corss sections are presented from e+e− collisions at s=29 GeV in the High Resolution Spectrometer detector. K0 and charged-particle distributions are compared in a study of the hadronization of quarks of known flavor. Ecents of the reaction e+e−→cc¯ are tagged by identifying D*'s while uu¯, dd¯, or ss¯ events are tagged through the identification of a charged particle with fractional momentum near 1. Parton-shower models with cluster and string fragmentation are compared with these data. Also, certain particle scaling tests are performed using the quark-flavor tags. In addition, K0 production in two- and three-jet events is compared to these models.

This paper reports cross-section measurements for the ρ0 and K*(890) vector mesons produced in e+e− annihilation at s=29 GeV. The data, which were taken with the High Resolution Spectrometer operating at the SLAC colliding-beam facility PEP, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 291 pb−1. The measured multiplicities for fractional momentum x>0.05 are Nρ0=0.79±0.04 and NK*0(890)=0.53±0.04. The measured fragmentation functions agree well with the predictions of the Lund model and when extrapolated to threshold, the corresponding total multiplicities are Nρ0=0.90±0.05 and NK*0(890)=0.59±0.05.

This paper presents measurements of the inclusive production cross sections of Λ baryons in e+e− annihilations at s=29 GeV. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 256 pb−1 collected with the High-Resolution Spectrometer at the SLAC storage ring PEP. Comparisons are made to the predictions of the Lund model. The data are well described with use of a strange-diquark suppression parameter, (usud)(sd), of 0.89 ± 0.10−0.16+0.56, and the measured Λc→Λ+X branching ratio of (23 ± 10)%.

The branching fraction for the decay of the ϒ(1S) into τ paris has been measured to be (3.4±0.4±0.4)%. This result agrees with the previously measured branching ratio of the decay into muon pairs.

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.

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 present improved measurements of the differential production rates of stable charged particles in hadronic Z0 decays, and of charged pions, kaons and protons identified over a wide momentum range using the SLD Cherenkov Ring Imaging Detector. In addition to flavor-inclusive Z0 decays, measurements are made for Z0 decays into light (u, d, s), c and b primary flavors, selected using the upgraded Vertex Detector. Large differences between the flavors are observed that are qualitatively consistent with expectations based upon previously measured production and decay properties of heavy hadrons. These results are used to test the predictions of QCD in the Modified Leading Logarithm Approximation, with the ansatz of Local Parton-Hadron Duality, and the predictions of three models of the hadronization process. The light-flavor results provide improved tests of these predictions, as they do not include the contribution of heavy-hadron production and decay; the heavy-flavor results provide complementary model tests. In addition we have compared hadron and antihadron production in light quark (as opposed to antiquark) jets. Differences are observed at high momentum for all three charged hadron species, providing direct probes of leading particle effects, and stringent constraints on models.

A study of charm fragmentation into $D_s^{*+}$ and $D_s^+$ in $e^+e^-$ annihilations at $\sqrt{s}$=10.5 GeV is presented. This study using $4.72 \pm 0.05$ fb$^{-1}$ of CLEO II data reports measurements of the cross-sections $\sigma(D_s^{*+})$ and $\sigma(D_s^+)$ in momentum regions above $x=0.44$, where $x$ is the $D_s$ momentum divided by the maximum kinematically allowed $D_s$ momentum. The $D_s$ vector to vector plus pseudoscalar production ratio is measured to be $P_V(x(D_s^+)>0.44)=0.44\pm0.04$

The strong coupling alpha_s(M_Z^2) has been measured using hadronic decays of Z^0 bosons collected by the SLD experiment at SLAC. The data were compared with QCD predictions both at fixed order, O(alpha_s^2), and including resummed analytic formulae based on the next-to-leading logarithm approximation. In this comprehensive analysis we studied event shapes, jet rates, particle correlations, and angular energy flow, and checked the consistency between alpha_s(M_Z^2) values extracted from these different measures. Combining all results we obtain alpha_s(M_Z^2) = 0.1200 \pm 0.0025(exp.) \pm 0.0078(theor.), where the dominant uncertainty is from uncalculated higher order contributions.

Measurements of the charged multiplicities for hadron production in e + e − annihilation in the center of mass energy range 9–32 GeV have been made. The average charged multiplicity has an energy dependence much stronger than ln s and similar to that reported for pp collisions. Quantitative differences are observed in the magnitude of both the average multiplicity 〈 n ch 〉 and the dispersion D ch for e + e − and pp interactions at the same center of mass energy. 〈 n ch 〉 and the ratio 〈 n ch / D ch in e + e − annihilations are significantly larger than in pp collisions and are found to be in overall agreement with QCD predictions. KNO scaling is seen to be satisfied.

Inclusive K 0 -production has been measured in e + e - annihilation at a center of mass energy of about W = 30 GeV. The ratio of K 0 + K 0 production to μ + μ - production is R K 0 = 5.6 ± 1.1 (statist. error) ± 0.8 (system.error) This value is about a factor of three higher than R K 0 at W = 7 GeV. The cross sections ( s / β ) d σ /d x is consistent with a scaling behaviour.

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.

Production of pions, kaons, protons and antiprotons has been studied in e + e − annihilations at 12 and 30 GeV centre of mass energy using time of flight techniques. The fractional yield of charged kaons and baryons appears to rise with outgoing particle momentum. At our highest energy at least 40% of e + e − annihilations into hadrons are estimated to contain baryons.