We observe evidence for the production of b-flavoured baryons in decays of the Z 0 boson with the OPAL detector at LEP. We find 68 Λl − , Λ l + candidates in 458 583 hadronic Z 0 decays. We interpret this as a signal of 55 ± 9 +0.3 −3.1 events from the semi-leptonic decays of b baryons. Assuming weakly decaying b baryons produced in Z 0 decays are mostly Λ b particles, we measure the product branching ratio (Γ b b /Γ had ) f ( b →Λ b ) B (Λ b →Λl − v X ) , averaged over the electron and muon channels, to be (6.2±1.0±1.5)×10 −4 .

A lower limit on the oscillation frequency of the B s 0 B s 0 system is obtained from approximately four million hadronic Z decays accumulated using the ALEPH detector at LEP from 1991 to 1995. Leptons are combined with opposite sign D s − candidates reconstructed in seven different decay modes as evidence of semileptonic B s 0 decays. Criteria designed to ensure precise proper time reconstruction select 277D s − ℓ + combinations. The initial state of these B s 0 candidates is determined using an algorithm optimized to efficiently utilise the tagging information available for each event. The limit at 95% confidence level on the B s 0 B s 0 oscillation frequency is Δm s > 6.6 ps −1 . The same data is used to update the measurement of the B s 0 lifetime, τ s = 1.54 −0.13 +0.14 (stat) ± 0.04 (syst) ps.

In four-jet events from e + e − →Z 0 →multihadrons one can separate the three principal contributions from the triple-gluon vertex, double gluon-bremsstrahlung and the secondary quark-antiquark production, using the shape of the two-dimensional angular distributions in the generalized Nachtmann-Reiter angle θ NR ∗ and the opening angle of the secondary jets. Thus one can identify directly the contribution from the triple-gluon vertex without comparison with a specific non-QCD model. Applying this new method to events taken with the DELPHI-detector we get for the ratio of the colour factor N c to the fermionic Casimir operator C F : N c C F = 2.55 ± 0.55 ( stat. ) ± 0.4 ( fragm. + models ) ± 0.2 ( error in bias ) in agreement with the value 2.25 expected in QCD from N c =3 and C F = 4 3 .

None

The inclusive production of the f ′ 2 (1525) in hadronic Z 0 decays has been studied in data collected by the DELPHI detector at LEP. The Ring Imaging Cherenkov detectors were important tools in the identification of the decay f ′ 2 (1525) → K + K − . The average number of f ′ 2 (1525) produced per hadronic Z decay, 〈f′ 2 〉 = 0.020 ± 0.005 (stat) ± 0.006 (syst), and the momentum distribution of the f ′ 2 (1525) have both been measured. The mass and width of the f ′ 2 (1525) are found to be 〈M f′ 2 〉 = 1535 ± 5 (stat) ± 4 (syst) MeV/c 2 , (T f′ 2 ;) = 60 ± 20 (stat) ± 19 (syst) MeV/c 2

We present a precise measurement of the left-right cross section asymmetry ( A LR ) for Z boson production by e + e − collisions. The measurement was performed at a center-of-mass energy of 91.26 GeV with the SLD detector at the SLAC Linear Collider (SLC). The luminosity-weighted average polarization of the SLC electron beam was (63.0±1.1)%. Using a sample of 49,392 Z decays, we measure A LR to be 0.1628±0.0071(stat.)±0.0028(syst.) which determines the effective weak mixing angle to be sin 2 θ W f eff = 0.2292 ± 0.0009(stat.) ± 0.0004(syst.).

A search for the neutral Higgs boson in the processes e + e − → Z → H 0 γ → q q γ and e + e − → Z → Z ∗ H 0 → q q γγ has been performed using 2.8 million hadronic Z decays collected with the L3 detector at LEP from 1991 through 1994. No evidence for these processes has been observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level for the corresponding cross sections have been set and the results have been compared with theoretical predictions beyond the Standard Model.

We report a new measurement of Rb=Gamma(Z -> bb)/ Gamma(Z -> hadrons) using a double tag technique where the b selection is based on topological reconstruction of the mass of the B-decay vertex. The measurement was performed using a sample of 150k hadronic Z0 events collected with the SLD at the SLAC Linear Collider during the years 1993-1995. The method utilizes the 3-D vertexing abilities of the SLD CCD pixel vertex detector and the small stable SLC beams to obtain a high b tagging efficiency of 37% for a purity of 97.2%. The high purity reduces the systematics introduced by charm contamination and correlations with Rc. We obtain a result of Rb=0.2176+/-0.0033(stat.)+/-0.0017(syst.)+/-0.0008(Rc). (Presented at the XXXIst Rencontres de Moriond Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories, Les Arcs, Savoie, France, March 16-23, 1996.)

A search has been made for direct production of heavy quarkonium states in more than 3 million hadronic Z0 decays in the 1991–1994 DELPHI data. Prompt J/ψ, ψ(2S) and Υ candidates have been searched for through their leptonic decay modes using criteria based on the kinematics and decay vertex positions. New upperlimits are set at the 90% confidence level for Br(Z0 → (QQ) X)/Br (Z0 → hadrons) for various strong production mechanisms of J/ψ and Υ these range down to 0.9 × 10−4. The limits are set in the presence of a small excess (∼ 1% statistical probability of a background fluctuation) in the sum of candidates from prompt J/ψ, ψ(2S), Υ(1S),Υ(2S) and Υ(3S) relative to the estimated background.

From 1.4 million hadronic Z decays collected by the ALEPH detector at LEP, an enriched sample of Z → cc̄ events is extracted by requiring the presence of a high momentum D ∗± . The charm quark forward-backward charge asymmetry at the Z pole is measured to be A FB 0. c = (8.0 ± 2.4) % corresponding to an effective electroweak mixing angle of sin 2 θ W eff = 0.2302 ± 0.0054.

We present the first measurement of the correlation between the $Z^0$ spin and the three-jet plane orientation in polarized $Z^0$ decays into three jets in the SLD experiment at SLAC utilizing a longitudinally polarized electron beam. The CP-even and T-odd triple product $\vec{S_Z}\cdot(\vec{k_1}\times \vec{k_2})$ formed from the two fastest jet momenta, $\vec{k_1}$ and $\vec{k_2}$, and the $Z^0$ polarization vector $\vec{S_Z}$, is sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. We measure the expectation value of this quantity to be consistent with zero and set 95\% C.L. limits of $-0.022 < \beta < 0.039$ on the correlation between the $Z^0$-spin and the three-jet plane orientation.

Charmless hadronic decays of beauty mesons have been searched for using the data collected with the DELPHI detector at the LEP collider. Several two, three and four-body decay modes have been investigated. Particle identification was used to distinguish the final states with protons, kaons and pions. Three candidate events selected in two-body decay modes are interpreted as evidence for charmless B decays. No excess has been found in higher multiplicity modes and improved upper limits for some of the branching ratios are given.

A sample of 25000 Z 0 → τ + τ − events collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP in 1991 and 1992 is used to measure the leptonic branching fractions of the τ lepton. The results are B(τ → eν ν ) = (17.51 ± 0.39) % and B(τ → μν ν ) = (17.02 ± 0.31) %. The ratio of the muon and electron couplings to the weak charged current is measured to be g μ g e = 1.000 ± 0.013 , satisfying e-μ universality. The leptonic branching fraction corrected to the value for a massless lepton, assuming e-μ universality, is found to be B(τ → lν ν ) = (17.50 ± 0.25) %.

We have measured the multiplicity of charm quark pairs arising from gluon splitting in a sample of about 3.5 million hadronic Z 0 decays. By selecting a 3-jet event topology and tagging charmed hadrons in the lowest energy jet using leptons, we established a signature of heavy quark pair production from gluons. The average number of gluons splitting into a c c pair per hadronic event was measured to be n g→c c =(2.27±0.28±0.41) × 10 −2 .

None

We have studied the production of D*± mesons in a sample of 1.25 million multihadronic decays of the Z0, in which 1969 candidates have been identified. We have determined the total multiplicity of charged D* mesons in multihadronic Z0 decays to be

An analysis of inclusive production of K0 and the meson resonances K*±(892), ρ0(770),f0(975) andf2(1270) in hadronic decays of the Z0 is presented, based on about 973,000 multihadronic events collected by the DELPHI detector at LEP during 1991 and 1992. Overall multiplicities have been determined as 1.962±0.060 K0 mesons, 0.712±0.067 K*±(892) and 1.21±0.15ρ0(770) per hadronic Z0 decay. The average multiplicities off0(975) for scaled momentum,xp, in the range 0.05≤xp≤0.6 and off2(1270) for 0.05≤xp≤1.0 are 0.098±0.016 and 0.170±0.043 respectively. Thef0(975) and ρ0(770)xp-spectra have similar shapes. Thef2(1270)/ρ0(770) ratio increases withxp. The average multiplicities and the differential cross sections are compared with the JETSET Parton Shower model. The model with default parameters fails to reproduce the experimental K0 momentum spectrum at low momentum, describes the K*±(892) and ρ0(770)xp-spectrum shapes, but significantly overestimates their production rates.

An improved measurement of the average b hadron lifetime is performed using a sample of 1.5 million hadronic Z decays, collected during the 1991–1993 runs of ALEPH, with the silicon vertex detector fully operational. This uses the three-dimensional impact parameter distribution of lepton tracks coming from semileptonic b decays and yields an average b hadron lifetime of 1.533 ± 0.013 ± 0.022 ps.