Strange baryon pair production in two-photon collisions is studied with the L3 detector at LEP. The analysis is based on data collected at e+e- centre-of-mass energies from 91 GeV to 208 GeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 844 pb-1. The processes gamma gamma -> Lambda Anti-lambda and gamma gamma -> Sigma0 Anti-sigma0 are identified. Their cross sections as a function of the gamma gamma centre-of-mass energy are measured and results are compared to predictions of the quark-diquark model.
Exclusive rho rho production in two-photon collisions involving a single highly virtual photon is studied with data collected at LEP at centre-of-mass energies 89GeV < \sqrt{s} < 209GeV with a total integrated luminosity of 854.7pb^-1 The cross section of the process gamma gamma^* -> rho rho is determined as a function of the photon virtuality, Q^2 and the two-photon centre-of-mass energy, Wgg, in the kinematic region: 1.2GeV^2 < Q^2 < 30GeV^2 and 1.1GeV < Wgg < 3GeV.
The reaction e + e − → e + e − γ ∗ γ ∗ → e + e − hadrons is analysed using data collected by the L3 detector during the LEP runs at s = 130−140 GeV and s = 161 GeV . The cross sections σ(e + e − → e + e − hadrons) and σ(γγ → hadrons) are measured in the interval 5 ≤ W γγ ≤ 75 GeV. The energy dependence of the σ(γγ → hadrons) cross section is consistent with the universal Regge behaviour of total hadronic cross sections.
We present a study of the structure of hadronic events recorded by the L3 detector at LEP at the center of mass energies of 161 and 172 GeV. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 21.25 pb −1 collected during the high energy runs of 1996. The distributions of event shape variables and the energy dependence of their mean values are well reproduced by QCD models. From a comparison of the data with resummed O ( α s 2 ) QCD calculations, we determine the strong coupling constant at the two energies. Combining this with our earlier measurements we find that the strong coupling constant decreases with increasing energy as expected in QCD.
Photonic events with large missing energy have been observed in e+e- collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 189GeV using the OPAL detector at LEP. Results are presented for event topologies consistent with a single photon or with an acoplanar photon pair. Cross-section measurements are performed within the kinematic acceptance of each selection, and the number of light neutrino species is measured. Cross-section results are compared with the expectations from the Standard Model process e+e- to nu nubar + photon(s). No evidence is observed for new physics contributions to these final states. Upper limits are derived on sigma(e+e- to XY).BR(X to Y gamma) and sigma(e+e- to XX).BR**2(X to Y gamma) for the case of stable and invisible Y. These limits apply to single and pair production of excited neutrinos (X=nu*, Y = nu), to neutralino production (X=neutralino_2, Y=neutralino_1) and to supersymmetric models in which X = neutralino_1 and Y = light gravitino. The case of macroscopic decay lengths of particle X is considered for e+e- to XX, X to Y gamma, when M_Y is of order zero. The single-photon results are also used to place upper limits on superlight gravitino pair production as well as graviton-photon production in the context of theories with additional space dimensions.
Photonic events with large missing energy have been observed in $e^+ e^-$ collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 130, 136 and 183 GeV collected in 1997 using the OPAL detector at LEP. Results are presented for event topologies with a single photon and missing transverse energy or with an acoplanar photon pair. Cross-section measurements are performed within the kinematic acceptance of each selection. These results are compared with the expectations from the Standard Model process $e^+e^-$ $\rightarrow \nu \bar{\nu +}$ photon(s). No evidence is observed for new physics contributions to these final states. Using the data at $\sqrt{s} = 183$ GeV, upper limits on $\sigma$ ($e^+ e^-$ $\rightarrow$ X.Y)*BR(X $\to \textrm{Y}_{\gamma}$) and $\sigma$ ($e^+ e^-$ $\rightarrow$ X.X)*BR$^2$ (X $\to \textrm{Y}_{\gamma}$) are derived for the case of stable and invisible Y. These limits apply to single and pair production of excited neutrinos $(\textrm{X} = \nu^*, \textrm{Y} = \nu)$, to neutralino production $(\textrm{X} = \overline{\chi}^0_2, \textrm{Y} = \overline{\chi}^0_1)$ and to supersymmetric models in which $X = \overline{\chi}^0_1$ and $Y=\overline{\textrm{G}}$ is a light gravitino.
Measurements of the midrapidity transverse energy distribution, $d\Et/d\eta$, are presented for $p$$+$$p$, $d$$+$Au, and Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV and additionally for Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=62.4$ and 130 GeV. The $d\Et/d\eta$ distributions are first compared with the number of nucleon participants $N_{\rm part}$, number of binary collisions $N_{\rm coll}$, and number of constituent-quark participants $N_{qp}$ calculated from a Glauber model based on the nuclear geometry. For Au$+$Au, $\mean{d\Et/d\eta}/N_{\rm part}$ increases with $N_{\rm part}$, while $\mean{d\Et/d\eta}/N_{qp}$ is approximately constant for all three energies. This indicates that the two component ansatz, $dE_{T}/d\eta \propto (1-x) N_{\rm part}/2 + x N_{\rm coll}$, which has been used to represent $E_T$ distributions, is simply a proxy for $N_{qp}$, and that the $N_{\rm coll}$ term does not represent a hard-scattering component in $E_T$ distributions. The $dE_{T}/d\eta$ distributions of Au$+$Au and $d$$+$Au are then calculated from the measured $p$$+$$p$ $E_T$ distribution using two models that both reproduce the Au$+$Au data. However, while the number-of-constituent-quark-participant model agrees well with the $d$$+$Au data, the additive-quark model does not.
We analyze a sample of W + jet events collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV to study ttbar production. We employ a simple kinematical variable "H", defined as the scalar sum of the transverse energies of the lepton, neutrino and jets. For events with a W boson and four or more jets, the shape of the "H" distribution deviates by 3.8 standard deviations from that expected from known backgrounds to ttbar production. However this distribution agrees well with a linear combination of background and ttbar events, the agreement being best for a top mass of 180 GeV/c^2.
Four-fermion events have been selected in a data sample of 5.8 pb −1 collected with the aleph detector at centre-of-mass energies of 130 and 136 GeV. The final states ℓ + ℓ − q q , ℓ + ℓ − ℓ + ℓ − , ν ν q q , and ν ν ℓ + ℓ − have been examined. Five events are observed in the data, in agreement with the Standard Model predictions of 6.67±0.38 events from four-fermion processes and 0.14 −0.05 +0.19 from background processes.
We present results of searches for diphoton resonances produced both inclusively and also in association with a vector boson (W or Z) using 100 $pb^{-1}$ of $p\bar{p}$ collisions using the CDF detector. We set upper limits on the product of cross section times branching ratio for both $p\bar{p} \to \gamma \gamma + X$ and $p \bar{p} \to \gamma \gamma + W/Z$. Comparing the inclusive production to the expectations from heavy sgoldstinos we derive limits on the supersymmetry-breaking scale $\sqrt{F}$ in the TeV range, depending on the sgoldstino mass and the choice of other parameters. Also, using a NLO prediction for the associated production of a Higgs boson with a W or Z boson, we set an upper limit on the branching ratio for $H \to \gamma \gamma$. Finally, we set a lower limit on the mass of a 'bosophilic' Higgs boson (e.g. one which couples only to $\gamma, W,$ and $Z$ bosons with standard model couplings) of 82 GeV/$c^2$ at 95% confidence level.