Cross sections for the production of two isolated muons up to high di-muon masses are measured in ep collisions at HERA with the H1 detector in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 71 pb^-1 at a centre of mass energy of sqrt{s} = 319 GeV. The results are in good agreement with Standard Model predictions, the dominant process being photon-photon interactions. Additional muons or electrons are searched for in events with two high transverse momentum muons using the full data sample corresponding to 114 pb^-1, where data at sqrt{s} = 301 GeV and sqrt{s} = 319 GeV are combined. Both the di-lepton sample and the tri-lepton sample agree well with the predictions.
A search for single top quark production is performed in e^\pm p collisions at HERA. The search exploits data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 118.3 pb^-1. A model for the anomalous production of top quarks in a flavour changing neutral current process involving a t-u-gamma coupling is investigated. Decays of top quarks into a b quark and a W boson are considered in the leptonic and the hadronic decay channels of the W. Both a cut-based analysis and a multivariate likelihood analysis are performed to discriminate anomalous top quark production from Standard Model background processes. In the leptonic channel, 5 events are found while 1.31 \pm 0.22 events are expected from the Standard Model background. In the hadronic channel, no excess above the expectation for Standard Model processes is found. These observations lead to a cross section \sigma (ep -> e t X) = 0.29 +0.15 -0.14 pb at \sqrt{s} = 319 GeV. Alternatively, assuming that the observed events are due to a statistical fluctuation, upper limits of 0.55 pb on the anomalous top production cross section and of 0.27 on the t-u-gamma coupling \kappa_{t-u-gamma} are established at the 95% confidence level.
A measurement is presented of dijet and 3-jet cross sections in low-|t| diffractive deep-inelastic scattering interactions of the type ep -> eXY, where the system X is separated by a large rapidity gap from a low-mass baryonic system Y. Data taken with the H1 detector at HERA, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 18.0 pb^(-1), are used to measure hadron level single and double differential cross sections for 4<Q^2<80 GeV^2, x_pom<0.05 and p_(T,jet)>4 GeV. The energy flow not attributed to jets is also investigated. The measurements are consistent with a factorising diffractive exchange with trajectory intercept close to 1.2 and tightly constrain the dominating diffractive gluon distribution. Viewed in terms of the diffractive scattering of partonic fluctuations of the photon, the data require the dominance of qqbarg over qqbar states. Soft colour neutralisation models in their present form cannot simultaneously reproduce the shapes and the normalisations of the differential cross sections. Models based on 2-gluon exchange are able to reproduce the shapes of the cross sections at low x_pom values.
Measurements are presented of single and double-differential dijet cross sections in diffractive photoproduction based on a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 47 pb^-1. The events are of the type ep -> eXY, where the hadronic system X contains at least two jets and is separated by a large rapidity gap from the system Y, which consists of a leading proton or low-mass proton excitation. The dijet cross sections are compared with QCD calculations at next-to-leading order and with a Monte Carlo model based on leading order matrix elements with parton showers. The measured cross sections are smaller than those obtained from the next-to-leading order calculations by a factor of about 0.6. This suppression factor has no significant dependence on the fraction x_gamma of the photon four-momentum entering the hard subprocess. Ratios of the diffractive to the inclusive dijet cross sections are measured for the first time and are compared with Monte Carlo models.
The inclusive e^-p single and double differential cross sections for neutral and charged current processes are measured with the H1 detector at HERA, in the range of four-momentum transfer squared Q^2 between 150 and 30000 GeV^2, and Bjorken x between 0.002 and 0.65. The data were taken in 1998 and 1999 with a centre-of-mass energy of 320 GeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 16.4 pb^(-1). The data are compared with recent measurements of the inclusive neutral and charged current e^+p cross sections. For Q^2>1000 GeV^2 clear evidence is observed for an asymmetry between e^+p and e^-p neutral current scattering and the generalised structure function xF_3 is extracted for the first time at HERA. A fit to the charged current data is used to extract a value for the W boson propagator mass. The data are found to be in good agreement with Standard Model predictions.
Double-tag events in two-photon collisions are studied using the L3 detector at LEP centre-of-mass energies from root(s)=189 GeV to 209 GeV. The cross sections of the e+e- -> e+e- hadrons and gamma*gamma* -> hadrons processes are measured as a function of the photon virtualities, Q1^2 and Q2^2, of the two-photon mass, W_gammagamma, and of the variable Y=ln(W_gammagamma^2/(Q1 Q2)), for an average photon virtuality <Q2> = 16 GeV2. The results are in agreement with next-to-leading order calculations for the process gamma*gamma* -> q qbar in the interval 2 <= Y <= 5. An excess is observed in the interval 5 < Y <= 7, corresponding to W_gammagamma greater than 40 GeV . This may be interpreted as a sign of resolved photon QCD processes or the onset of BFKL phenomena.
The reaction e+e- -> e+e- gamma* gamma* -> e+e- hadrons for quasi-real photons is studied using data from root(s) = 183 GeV up to 202 GeV. Results on the total cross sections sigma(e+e- -> e+e- hadrons) and sigma(+e- gamma* gamma* -> e+e- hadrons) are given for the two-photon centre-of-mass energies 5 GeV < Wgammagamma < 185 GeV. The total cross section of two real photons is described by a Regge parametrisation. We observe a steeper rise with the two-photon centre-of-mass energy as compared to the hadron-hadron and the photon-proton cross sections. The data are also compared to the expectations of different theoretical models.
We have studied several features of the production of charged-hardon pairs by γγ collisions. We have measured the f0 partial width Γf0→γγ(Q2) for Q2 in the range 0<Q2<1.4 GeV2/c2, and obtained Γf0→γγ=2.52±0.13±0.38 keV at Q2≈0. The measured Q2 dependence is in agreement with the generalized vector-dominance model. The cross section for γγ→(π+π−+K+K−) in the mass region 1.6≤Mππ≤2.5 GeV/c2 has also been measured and the result compared with that expected from the QCD continuum.
We report measurements of the two-photon processes e+e−→e+e−π+π− and e+e−→e+e−K+K−, at an e+e− center-of-mass energy of 29 GeV. In the π+π− data a high-statistics analysis of the f(1270) results in a γγ width Γ(γγ→f)=3.2±0.4 keV. The π+π− continuum below the f mass is well described by a QED Born approximation, whereas above the f mass it is consistent with a QCD-model calculation if a large contribution from the f is assumed. For the K+K− data we find agreement of the high-mass continuum with the QCD prediction; limits on f′(1520) and θ(1720) formation are presented.
Results from the HELIOS External Spectrometer on kaon production in 200 GeV/ A S + W and p + W collisions are presented. The K π ratios are compared with results from a lower beam energy and are found to be remarkably similar. Evidence for secondary production of K + by meson-baryon rescattering is reviewed. Our results at y = 1.0–1.5 are compared with neutral strange particle results at midrapidity.
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