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G. Abbiendi et al

Publications and source records attributed to G. Abbiendi et al.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv1998

W+W- production and triple gauge boson couplings at LEP energies up to 183 GeV

A study of W-pair production in e+e- annihilations at Lep2 is presented, based on 877 W+W- candidates corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 57 pb-1 at sqrt(s) = 183 GeV. Assuming that the angular distributions of the W-pair production and decay, as well as their branching fractions, are described by the Standard Model, the W-pair production cross-section is measured to be 15.43 +- 0.61 (stat.) +- 0.26 (syst.) pb. Assuming lepton universality and combining with our results from lower centre-of-mass energies, the W branching fraction to hadrons is determined to be 67.9 +- 1.2 (stat.) +- 0.5 (syst.)%. The number of W-pair candidates and the angular distributions for each final state (qqlnu,qqqq,lnulnu) are used to determine the triple gauge boson couplings. After combining these values with our results from lower centre-of-mass energies we obtain D(kappa_g)=0.11+0.52-0.37, D(g^z_1)=0.01+0.13-0.12 and lambda=-0.10+0.13-0.12, where the errors include both statistical and systematic uncertainties and each coupling is determined setting the other two couplings to the Standard Model value. The fraction of W bosons produced with a longitudinal polarisation is measured to be 0.242+-0.091(stat.)+-0.023(syst.). All these measurements are consistent with the Standard Model expectations.

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arXiv1998

Search for Higgs Bosons in e+e- Collisions at 183 GeV

The data collected by the OPAL experiment at sqrts=183 GeV were used to search for Higgs bosons which are predicted by the Standard Model and various extensions, such as general models with two Higgs field doublets and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of approximately 54pb-1. None of the searches for neutral and charged Higgs bosons have revealed an excess of events beyond the expected background. This negative outcome, in combination with similar results from searches at lower energies, leads to new limits for the Higgs boson masses and other model parameters. In particular, the 95% confidence level lower limit for the mass of the Standard Model Higgs boson is 88.3 GeV. Charged Higgs bosons can be excluded for masses up to 59.5 GeV. In the MSSM, mh > 70.5 GeV and mA > 72.0 GeV are obtained for tan{beta}>1, no and maximal scalar top mixing and soft SUSY-breaking masses of 1 TeV. The range 0.8 < tanb < 1.9 is excluded for minimal scalar top mixing and m{top} < 175 GeV. More general scans of the MSSM parameter space are also considered.

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arXiv1998

Search for Anomalous Photonic Events with Missing Energy in e+e- Collisions at Ecm = 130, 136 and 183 GeV

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- to nunubar + photon(s). No evidence is observed for new physics contributions to these final states. Using the data at Ecm = 183 GeV, upper limits on sigma(e+e- to X.Y)*BR(X to Y gamma) and sigma(e+e- to X.X)*BR(X to Y gamma)**2 are derived 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 = Chi_2^0, Y = Chi_1^0) and to supersymmetric models in which X = chi_1^0 and Y is a light gravitino.

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arXiv1998

Measurement of the Semileptonic Branching Ratio of Charm Hadrons Produced in Z to ccbar Decays

The inclusive charm hadron semileptonic branching fractions B(c to e) and B(c to mu) in Z to ccbar events have been determined using 4.4 million hadronic Z decays collected with the OPAL detector at LEP. A charm-enriched sample is obtained by selecting events with reconstructed D*+- mesons. Using leptons found in the hemisphere opposite that of the D*+- mesons, the semileptonic branching fractions of charm hadrons are measured to be B(c to e) = 0.103 +-0.009 +0.009 -0.008 and B(c to mu) = 0.090 +-0.007 +0.007 -0.006 where the first errors are in each case statistical and the others systematic. Combining these measurements, an inclusive semileptonic branching fraction of charm hadrons of B(c to l) = 0.095 +-0.006 +0.007 -0.006 is obtained.

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arXiv1998

A Measurement of Rb using a Double Tagging Method

The fraction of Z to bbbar events in hadronic Z decays has been measured by the OPAL experiment using the data collected at LEP between 1992 and 1995. The Z to bbbar decays were tagged using displaced secondary vertices, and high momentum electrons and muons. Systematic uncertainties were reduced by measuring the b-tagging efficiency using a double tagging technique. Efficiency correlations between opposite hemispheres of an event are small, and are well understood through comparisons between real and simulated data samples. A value of Rb = 0.2178 +- 0.0011 +- 0.0013 was obtained, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. The uncertainty on Rc, the fraction of Z to ccbar events in hadronic Z decays, is not included in the errors. The dependence on Rc is Delta(Rb)/Rb = -0.056*Delta(Rc)/Rc where Delta(Rc) is the deviation of Rc from the value 0.172 predicted by the Standard Model. The result for Rb agrees with the value of 0.2155 +- 0.0003 predicted by the Standard Model.

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arXiv1998

Search for Chargino and Neutralino Production at sqrt{s} = 181-184 GeV at LEP

A search for charginos and neutralinos, predicted by supersymmetric theories, has been performed using a data sample of 57 pb-1 at centre-of-mass energies of 181-184 GeV taken with the OPAL detector at LEP. No evidence for chargino or neutralino production has been found. Upper limits on chargino and neutralino pair production cross-sections are obtained as a function of the chargino mass, the lightest neutralino mass, and the second lightest neutralino mass. For large chargino masses the limits have been improved with respect to the previous analyses at lower centre-of-mass energies. Exclusion regions at 95% confidence level of parameters of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model are determined for the case of a large universal scalar mass, m_0, implying heavy scalar fermions, and for the case of a small m_0 resulting in light scalar fermions and giving the worst-case limits. Within this framework and for the lightest chargino-neutralino mass difference greater than 5 GeV the 95% C.L. lower limits on the lightest chargino mass for m_0 = 500 GeV are 90.0 and 90.2 GeV for tan(beta) = 1.5 and 35 respectively. These limits for all m_0 (the worst-case) are 69.1 and 65.2 GeV for tan(beta) = 1.5 and 35 respectively. Exclusion regions are also presented for neutralino masses, including an absolute lower limit at 95% C.L. for the mass of the lightest neutralino of 30.1 GeV for m_0 = 500 GeV (24.2 GeV for all m_0), with implications for experimental searches for the lightest neutralino as a dark matter candidate.

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arXiv1998

Search for Acoplanar Lepton Pair Events in e+e- Collisions at sqrt{s} = 161, 172 and 183 GeV

A selection of di-lepton events with significant missing transverse momentum has been performed using a total data sample of 77.0 pb-1 at e+e- centre-of-mass energies of 161 GeV, 172 GeV and 183 GeV. The observed numbers of events: four at 161 GeV, nine at 172 GeV, and 78 at 183 GeV, are consistent with the numbers expected from Standard Model processes, which arise predominantly from W+W- production with each W decaying leptonically. This topology is an experimental signature also for the pair production of new particles that decay to a charged lepton accompanied by one or more invisible particles. Further event selection criteria are described that optimise the sensitivity to particular new physics channels. No evidence for new phenomena is apparent and model independent limits on the production cross-section times branching ratio squared for various new physics processes are presented. Assuming a 100% branching ratio for the decay of a right-handed charged slepton to a charged lepton and the lightest neutralino, we exclude at 95% CL: right-handed smuons with masses below 65 GeV for smuon - neutralino mass differences greater than 2 GeV and right-handed staus with masses below 64 GeV for stau - neutralino mass differences greater than 10 GeV. Right-handed selectrons are excluded at 95% CL for masses below 77 GeV for selectron - neutralino mass differences greater than 5 GeV within the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model assuming mu < -100 GeV and tan{beta} = 1.5.

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arXiv1998

Measurement of the Longitudinal Cross-Section using the Direction of the Thrust Axis in Hadronic Events at LEP

In the process e+e- to hadrons, one of the effects of gluon emission is to modify the 1+cos(theta)**2 form of the angular distribution of the thrust axis, an effect which may be quantified by the longitudinal cross-section. Using the OPAL detector at LEP, we have determined the longitudinal to total cross-section ratio to be 0.0127+-0.0016+-0.0013 at the parton level, in good agreement with the expectation of QCD computed to Order(alpha_s**2) Comparisions at the hadron level with Monte Carlo models are presented. The dependence of the longitudinal cross-section on the value of thrust has also been studied, and provides a new test of QCD.

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arXiv1998

A Study of Parton Fragmentation in Hadronic Z0 Decays Using Lambda-Lambdabar Correlations

The correlated production of Lambda and Lambdabar baryons has been studied using 4.3 million multihadronic Zo decays recorded with the OPAL detector at LEP. Di-lambda pairs were investigated in the full data sample and for the first time also in 2-jet and 3-jet events selected with the k_t algorithm. The distributions of rapidity differences from correlated Lambda-Lambdabar pairs exhibit short-range, local correlations and prove to be a sensitive tool to test models, particularly for 2-jet events. The JETSET model describes the data best but some extra parameter tuning is needed to improve agreement with the experimental results in the rates and the rapidity spectra simultaneously. The recently developed modification of JETSET, the MOdified Popcorn Scenarium (MOPS), and also HERWIG do not give satisfactory results. This study of di-lambda production in 2- and 3-jet events supports the short-range compensation of quantum numbers.

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arXiv1998

First Measurement of Z/gamma* Production in Compton Scattering of Quasi-real Photons

We report the first observation of Z/gamma* production in Compton scattering of quasi-real photons. This is a subprocess of the reaction e+e- to e+e-Z/gamma*, where one of the final state electrons is undetected. Approximately 55 pb-1 of data collected in the year 1997 at an e+e- centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV with the OPAL detector at LEP have been analysed. The Z/gamma* from Compton scattering has been detected in the hadronic decay channel. Within well defined kinematic bounds, we measure the product of cross-section and Z/gamma* branching ratio to hadrons to be (0.9+-0.3+-0.1) pb for events with a hadronic mass larger than 60 GeV, dominated by (e)eZ production. In the hadronic mass region between 5 GeV and 60 GeV, dominated by (e)egamma* production, this product is found to be (4.1+-1.6+-0.6) pb. Our results agree with the predictions of two Monte Carlo event generators, grc4f and PYTHIA.

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arXiv1998

Di-Jet Production in Photon-Photon Collisions at e+e- center-of-mass energies = 161 and 172 GeV

Di-jet production is studied in collisions of quasi-real photons radiated by the LEP beams at e+e- centre-of-mass energies 161 and 172 GeV. The jets are reconstructed using a cone jet finding algorithm. The angular distributions of direct and double-resolved processes are measured and compared to the predictions of leading order and next-to-leading order perturbative QCD. The jet energy profiles are also studied. The inclusive two-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse energy and rapidity and compared to next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations. The inclusive two-jet cross-section as a function of rapidity is compared to the prediction of the leading order Monte Carlo generators PYTHIA and PHOJET. The Monte Carlo predictions are calculated with different parametrisations of the parton distributions of the photon. The influence of the `underlying event' has been studied to reduce the model dependence of the predicted jet cross-sections from the Monte Carlo generators.

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arXiv1998

Tests of the Standard Model and Constraints on New Physics from Measurements of Fermion-pair Production at 183 GeV at LEP

Cross-sections for hadronic, b-bbar and lepton pair final states in e+e- collisions at sqrt(s) = 183 GeV, measured with the OPAL detector at LEP, are presented and compared with the predictions of the Standard Model. Forward-backward asymmetries for the leptonic final states have also been measured. Cross-sections and asymmetries are also presented for data recorded in 1997 at sqrt(s) = 130 and 136 GeV. The results are used to measure the energy dependence of the electromagnetic coupling constant alpha_em, and to place limits on new physics as described by four-fermion contact interactions or by the exchange of a new heavy particle such as a leptoquark, or of a squark or sneutrino in supersymmetric theories with R-parity violation.

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arXiv1998

Measurement of the Average Polarization of b Baryons in Hadronic Z^0 Decays

In the Standard Model, b quarks produced in e^+e^- annihilation at the Z^0 peak have a large average longitudinal polarization of -0.94. Some fraction of this polarization is expected to be transferred to b-flavored baryons during hadronization. The average longitudinal polarization of weakly decaying b baryons, , is measured in approximately 4.3 million hadronic Z^0 decays collected with the OPAL detector between 1990 and 1995 at LEP. Those b baryons that decay semileptonically and produce a Λbaryon are identified through the correlation of the baryon number of the Λand the electric charge of the lepton. In this semileptonic decay, the ratio of the neutrino energy to the lepton energy is a sensitive polarization observable. The neutrino energy is estimated using missing energy measurements. From a fit to the distribution of this ratio, the value = -0.56^{+0.20}_{-0.13} +/- 0.09 is obtained, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic.

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