Cross-sections for hadronic and leptonic two-fermion events, and leptonic forward-backward asymmetries, have been measured in e + e − collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 161 GeV, using the OPAL detector at LEP. Results are presented both including and excluding the dominant production of radiative γZ 0 events. We have measured R b , the ratio of the number of b b to all multihadronic events at 161 GeV, and compared it to the result obtained at 130–136 GeV. All results agree well with the Standard Model expectations. In a model-independent fit to the Z 0 lineshape, the data presented here give an improved precision on the γZ 0 -interference term. The data have also been used to obtain new limits on extensions of the Standard Model described by effective four-fermion contact interactions.
This letter describes the first observation of W boson pair production at a centre-of-mass energy s =161 GeV in the OPAL detector at LEP. The analysis is sensitive to all expected W + W − decay channels. A total of 28 events have been selected for an integrated luminosity of 9.89±0.06 pb −1 . This is consistent with the Standard Model expectation, including signal and background contributions. The W pair production cross-section is measured to be σ WW = 3.62 −0.82 +0.93 ±0.16 pb. An analysis of the predicted M W dependence of the accepted cross-section, taking into account interference in the four-fermion production processes, yields M W = 80.40 −0.41−0.10 +0.44+0.09 ±0.10 GeV, where the first and second uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively, and the third arises form the beam energy uncertainty.
Cross-sections and angular distributions for the production of events with single and multiple photons are measured from data recorded with the OPAL detector at the recently upgraded LEP collider. The measured cross-sections are generally consistent with Standard Model expectations for the e + e − → ν v γ(γ) and e + e − → γγ ( γ ) processes. Six events with an acoplanar photon pair and large missing mass are found. The observed number of events is larger than expected from e + e − → ν ν γγ ; however, the missing mass distribution is compatible with the Z 0 resonance. Deviations from QED are constrained by the data on e + e − → γγ ( γ ). Lower limits are set at 95% confidence level on the QED cut-off parameters Λ + and Λ − of 152 GeV and 142 GeV, respectively, and also on the mass of an excited electron of 147 GeV.
This paper describes the measurement of the W boson mass, M_W, and decay width, Gamma_W, from the direct reconstruction of the invariant mass of its decay products in W pair events collected at a mean centre-of-mass energy of sqrt{s} = 172.12 GeV with the OPAL detector at LEP. Measurements of the W pair production cross-section, the W decay branching fractions and properties of the W decay final states are also described. A total of 120 candidate W^+W^- events has been selected for an integrated luminosity of 10.36 pb^-1. The W^+W^- production cross-section is measured to be sigma_WW = 12.3 +/- 1.3(stat.) +/- 0.3(syst.) pb, consistent with the Standard Model expectation. The W^+W^- -> qq(bar) l nu and W^+W^- -> qq(bar)qq(bar) final states are used to obtain a direct measurement of Gamma_W = 1.30^{+0.62}_{-0.55}(stat.) +/- 0.18(syst.) GeV. Assuming the Standard Model relation between M_W and Gamma_W, the W boson mass is measured to be M_W = 80.32 +/- 0.30(stat.) +/- 0.09(syst.) GeV. The event properties of the fully-hadronic decays of W^+W^- events are compared to those of the semi-leptonic decays. At the current level of precision there is no evidence for effects of colour reconnection in the observables studied. Combining data recorded by OPAL at sqrt{s} ~ 161-172 GeV, the W boson branching fraction to hadrons is determined to be 69.8^{+3.0}_{-3.2}(stat.) +/- 0.7(syst.)%, consistent with the prediction of the Standard Model. The combined mass measurement from direct reconstruction and from the W^+W^- production cross-sections measured at sqrt{s} ~ 161 and sqrt{s} ~ 172 GeV is M_W = 80.35 +/- 0.24(stat.) +/- 0.07(syst.) GeV.
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