The differential cross section for K+p elastic scattering has been measured at several momenta in the interval 200-600 MeV/c within a hydrogen bubble chamber. The data have been fitted with a partial-wave analysis. We obtain solutions which are dominated over the entire momentum range by s-wave scattering, with constructive interference between the nuclear and Coulomb scattering. The effective-range approximation with only s waves yields a K+p scattering length a=−0.314±0.007 F and an effective range r0=0.36±0.007 F. The measured total inelastic cross section at 588 MeV/c is 11−5+9 μb.

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.

We have studied the reactionspp→ppπ+π-,K+p→K+pπ+π−π, π+p→ π+,pπ+π− and π−p →π+π− at 147 GeV/c using the 30-inch Fermilab hybrid system. All four reactions were detected with the same apparatus and analyzed in the same way. The energy dependence of the channel cross section was found to beAp−0.6+B for thepp reaction andAp−1+B for the other three. About 90% of the cross section at 147 GeV/c can be accounted for by either beam or target diffraction. Some of the remaining cross section may come from double Pomeron exchange reactions which we tried to isolate. We have tested the hypothesis of a factorizable Pomeron and our data indicates a violation of this hypothesis. We show that the 3π mass enhancement in the mass region 1.2–1.4 GeV is diffractively produced in the π± beam reactions. Fourprong, four-constraint and six-prong, four-constraint cross sections are reported.

The Fermilab hybrid 30-in. bubble-chamber spectrometer was exposed to a tagged 147-GeV/c positive beam containing π+, K+, and p. A sample of 3003 K+p, 19410 pp, and 20745 π+p interactions is used to derive σn, 〈n〉, f2cc, and 〈nc〉D for each beam particle. These values are compared to values obtained at other, mostly lower, beam momenta. The overall dependence of 〈n〉 on Ea, the available center-of-mass energy, for these three reactions as well as π−p and pp interactions has been determined.

The energy dependence of the average of the charged multiplicity and its dispersion in π + /K + /p interaction on protons at 147 GeV/ c is found to be the same as in e + e − annihilations if an “effective energy” variable is used instead of the total energy. The effective energy S eff is defined as the invariant mass of all secondaries left after the two leading particles have been removed. Fitting the expression aS eff b to the average charge multiplicity 〈 n ch 〉, we find the power b to be in good agreement with the value of 0.25 predicted by Fermi's statistical model and by Landau's hydrodynamical model.

In an experiment with the 30-inch Hybrid Spectrometer at Fermilab we have obtained the inclusive and semi-inclusive production cross sections of the ϱ0 meson using a conventional background subtraction technique. Production cross sections for the ϱ0 are derived as a function of the Feynman scaling variablex, and the transverse variablespt2 andEt=(pt2+M2)1/2. The longitudinal distributions are compared with the (1−x) dependence of the proton and meson valence quark structure functions, using various forms of recombination and fragmentation models. The transverse distributions are compared with thermodynamic models. We give density matrix elements for the ϱ0 production from pions in the extreme forward region.

We have measured gluon splitting into bottom quarks, g→b b ̄ , in hadronic Z 0 decays collected by SLD between 1996 and 1998. The analysis was performed by looking for secondary bottom production in 4-jet events of any primary flavor. 4-jet events were identified, and in each event a topological vertex-mass technique was applied to the two jets closest in angle in order to identify them as b or b ̄ jets. The upgraded CCD-based vertex detector gives very high B -tagging efficiency, especially for B hadrons with the low energies typical of this process. We measured the rate of g→b b ̄ production per hadronic event, g b b ̄ , to be (2.44±0.59(stat.)±0.34(syst.))×10 −3 .

We have made the first direct measurement of the parity-violating coupling of the Z^0 boson to the strange quark, A_s, using ~550,000 e^+e^- ->Z^0->hadrons events produced with a polarized electron beam and recorded by the SLD experiment. Z^0 -> s-sbar events were tagged by the absence of B or D hadrons and the presence in each hemisphere of a high-momentum K^+- or K^0_s. From the polar angle distributions of the strangeness-signed thrust axis, we obtained A_s=0.895+-0.066(stat.)+-0.062(syst.). The analyzing power and u-ubar plus d-dbar background were constrained using the data.

We present a measurement of the left-right cross-section asymmetry (ALR) for Z boson production by e+e- collisions. The measurement includes the final data taken with the SLD detector at the SLAC Linear Collider (SLC) during the period 1996-1998. Using a sample of 383,487 Z decays collected during the 1996-1998 runs we measure the pole-value of the asymmetry, ALR0, to be 0.15056+-0.00239 which is equivalent to an effective weak mixing angle of sin2th(eff) = 0.23107+-0.00030. Our result for the complete 1992-1998 dataset comprising 537 thousand Z decays is sin2th(eff) = 0.23097+-0.00027.

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. ) .