Based on 520 000 fermion pairs accumulated during the first three years of data collection by the ALEPH detector at LEP, updated values of the resonance parameters of theZ are determined to beMZ=(91.187±0.009) GeV, ΓZ=(2.501±0.012) GeV, σhad0=(41.60±0.27) nb, andRℓ=20.78±0.13. The corresponding number of light neutrino species isNν=2.97±0.05. The forward-backward asymmetry in lepton-pair decays is used to determine the ratio of vector to axial-vector couplings of leptons:gV2(MZ2)/gA2(MZ2)=0.0052±0.0016. Combining this with ALEPH measurements of theb andc quark asymmetries and τ polarization gives sin2θWeff=0.2326±0.0013. Assuming the minimal Standard Model, and including measurements ofMW/MZ fromp\(\bar p\) colliders and neutrino-nucleon scattering, the mass of the top quark is\(M_{top} = 156 \pm \begin{array}{*{20}c} {22} \\ {25} \\ \end{array} \pm \begin{array}{*{20}c} {17} \\ {22Higgs} \\ \end{array} \) GeV.

Deep inelastic electron-photon scattering is studied using e+e- data collected by the OPAL detector at centre-of-mass energies sqrt{s_ee} ~ M_{Z^0}. The photon structure function F_2^gamma(x,Q^2) is explored in a Q^2 range of 1.1 to 6.6 GeV/c^2 at lower x values than ever before. To probe this kinematic region events are selected with a beam electron scattered into one of the OPAL luminosity calorimeters at scattering angles between 27 and 55 mrad. A measurement is presented of the photon structure function F_2^gamma(x,Q^2) at <Q^2> = 1.86 GeV^2 and 3.76 GeV^2 in five logarithmic x bins from 0.0025 to 0.2.

Measurements of the cross section and forward-backward asymmetry for the reaction e + e − → μ + μ − using the DELPHI detector at LEP are presented. The data come from a scan around the Z 0 peak at seven centre of mass energies, giving a sample of 3858 events in the polar angle region 22° < θ < 158°. From a fit to the cross section for 43° < θ < 137°, a polar angle region for which the absolute efficiency has been determined, the square root of the product of the Z 0 → e + e − and Z 0 → μ + μ − partial widths is determined to be (Γ e Γ μ ) 1 2 = 85.0 ± 0.9( stat. ) ± 0.8( syst. ) MeV . From this measurement of the partial width, the value of the effective weak mixing angle is determined to be sin 2 ( θ w ) = 0.2267 ± 0.0037 . The ratio of the hadronic to muon pair partial widths is found to be Γ h / Γ μ = 19.89 ± 0.40(stat.) ± 0.19(syst.). The forward-backward asymmetry at the resonance peak energy E CMS = 91.22 GeV is found to be A FB = 0.028 ± 0.020(stat.) ± 0.005(syst.). From a combined fit to the cross section and forward-backward asymmetry data, the products of the electron and muon vector and axial-vector coupling constants are determined to be V e V μ = 0.0024 ± 0.0015(stat.) ± 0.0004(syst.) and A e A μ = 0.253 ± 0.003(stat.) ± 0.003 (syst.). The results are in good agreement with the expectations of the minimal standard model.

Deep inelastic electron-photon scattering is studied in the Q2 ranges from 6 to 30 GeV2 and from 60 to 400 GeV2 using the full sample of LEP data taken with the OPAL detector at centre-of-mass energies close to the Z0 mass, with an integrated luminosity of 156.4 pb−1. Energy flow distributions and other properties of the measured hadronic final state are compared with the predictions of Monte Carlo models, including HERWIG and PYTHIA. Sizeable differences are found between the data and the models, especially at low values of the scaling variable x. New measurements are presented of the photon structure function $F_2^{αmma }(x,Q^2)$, allowing for the first time for uncertainties in the description of the final state by different Monte Carlo models. The differences between the data and the models contribute significantly to the systematic errors on $F_2^{αmma }$. The slope ${⤪ d}(F_2^{αmma }/←pha )/{⤪ d ln} Q^2$ is measured to be $0.13_{-0.04}^{+0.06}$.

The multiplicity distributions of charged particles in restricted rapidity intervals inZ0 hadronic decays measured by the DELPHI detector are presented. The data reveal a shoulder structure, best visible for intervals of intermediate size, i.e. for rapidity limits around ±1.5. The whole set of distributions including the shoulder structure is reproduced by the Lund Parton Shower model. The structure is found to be due to important contributions from 3-and 4-jet events with a hard gluon jet. A different model, based on the concept of independently produced groups of particles, “clans”, fluctuating both in number per event and particle content per clan, has also been used to analyse the present data. The results show that for each interval of rapidity the average number of clans per event is approximately the same as at lower energies.

We have studied the energy-energy angular correlations in hadronic final states from Z 0 decay using the DELPHI detector at LEP. From a comparison with Monte Carlo calculations based on the exact second order QCD matrix element and string fragmentation we find that Λ (5) MS =104 +25 -20 ( stat. ) +25 -20( syst. ) +30 00 ) theor. ) . MeV, which corresponds to α s (91 GeV)=0.106±0.003(stat.)±0.003(syst.) +0.003 -0.000 (theor). The theoretical error stems from different choices for the renormalization scale of α s . In the Monte Carlo simulation the scale of α s as well as the fragmentation parameters have been optimized to described reasonably well all aspects of multihadron production.

The forward-backward asymmetry of bottom quarks is measured with statistics of approximately 80 000 hadronic Z 0 decays produced in e + e − collisions at a centre of mass energy of √ s ≈ M z . The tagging of b quark events has been performed using the semileptonic decay channel b→X+ μ . Because the asymmetry depends on the weak coupling, this leads to a precise measurement of the electroweak mixing angle sin 2 θ w . The experimental result is A FB b = 0.115±0.043(stat.)±0.013(syst.). After correcting the value for the B 0 B 0 mixing this becomes A FB b =0.161±0.060(stat.)±0.021(syst.) corresponding to sin 2 θ W MS =0.221±0.011( stat. )±0.004( syst. ) .

The multiplicity distributions of charged particles in full phase space and in restricted rapidity intervals for events with a fixed number of jets measured by the DELPHI detector are presented. The data are well reproduced by the Lund Parton Shower model and can also be well described by fitted negative binomial distributions. The properties of these distributions in terms of the clan model are discussed. In symmetric 3-jet events the candidate gluon jet is found not to be significantly different in average multiplicity than the mean of the other two jets, thus supporting previous results of the HRS and OPAL experiments. Similar results hold for events generated according to the LUND PS and to the HERWIG models, when the jets are defined by the JADE jet finding algorithm. The method seems to be insensitive for measuring the color charge ratio between gluons and quarks.

A determination of the hadronic fragmentation functions of the Z 0 boson is presented from a study of the inclusive hadron production with the DELPHI detector at LEP. These fragmentation functions were compared with the ones at lower energies, thus covering data in a large kinematic range: 196 ⩽ Q 2 ⩽ 8312 GeV 2 and x (= P h E beam ) > 0.08 . A large scaling violation was observed, which was used to extract the strong coupling constant in second order QCD: α s ( M Z ) = 0.118 ± 0.005. The corresponding QCD scale for five quark flavours is: Λ (5) MS = 230 ± 60 MeV .

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−.