arXiv subjects

The OPAL collaboration

Publications and source records attributed to The OPAL collaboration.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2001

A Search for a Narrow Radial Excitation of the D*+/- Meson

A sample of 3.73 million hadronic Z decays, recorded with the OPAL detector at LEP in the years 1991-95, has been used to search for a narrow resonance corresponding to the decay of the D*'+/-(2629) meson into D*+/- pi+ pi-. The D*+ mesons are reconstructed in the decay channel D*+ -> D0 pi+ with D0 -> K- pi+. No evidence for a narrow D*'+/-(2629) resonance is found. A limit on the production of D*'+/-(2629) in hadronic Z decays is derived: f(Z -> D*'+/-(2629)) x Br(D*'+ -> D*+ pi+ pi-) < 3.1 x 10^{-3} (95% C.L.)

hep-ex↗

arXiv2001

Precision Neutral Current Asymmetry Parameter Measurements from the Tau Polarization at LEP

Measurements of the tau lepton polarization and forward-backward polarization asymmetry near the Z resonance using the OPAL detector are described. The measurements are based on analyses of tau -> e nu_e nu_tau, tau -> mu nu_mu nu_tau, tau -> pi nu_tau, tau -> rho nu_tau and tau -> a1 nu_tau decays from a sample of 144810 e+e- -> tau+ tau- candidates corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 151 pb-1. Assuming that the tau lepton decays according to V-A theory, we measure the average tau polarization near Ecm = MZ to be = (-14.10 +/- 0.73 +/- 0.55)% and the tau polarization forward-backward asymmetry to be Afb = (-10.55 +/- 0.76 +/- 0.25)%, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. Taking into account the small effects of the photon propagator, photon-Z interference and photonic radiative corrections, these results can be expressed in terms of the lepton neutral current asymmetry parameters: Atau = 0.1456 +/- 0.0076 +/- 0.0057, Ae = 0.1454 +/- 0.0108 +/- 0.0036. These measurements are consistent with the hypothesis of lepton universality and combine to give Al = 0.1455 +/- 0.0073. Within the context of the Standard Model this combined result corresponds to sin^2(theta)(lept,effective) = 0.23172 +/- 0.00092. Combing these results with those from the other OPAL neutral current measurements yields a value of sin^2(theta)(lept,effective) = 0.23211 +/- 0.00068.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2001

Measurement of the Branching Ratio for D_s->tau nu_tau Decays

Using about 3.9 million hadronic Z decays from e+e- collisions recorded by the OPAL detector at LEP at centre-of-mass energies near MZ the branching ratio for the decay D_s -> tau nu_tau has been measured to be (7.0 +/- 2.1(stat) +/- 2.0 (syst))%. This result can be used to derive the decay constant of the D_s meson: f(D_s) = 286 +/- 44(stat) +/- 41(syst) MeV.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2001

A Simultaneous Measurement of the QCD Colour Factors and the Strong Coupling

Using data from e+e- annihilation into hadrons, taken with the OPAL detector at LEP at the Z pole between 1991 and 1995, we performed a simultaneous measurement of the colour factors of the underlying gauge group of the strong interaction, CF and CA, and the strong coupling, alpha(s). The measurement was carried out by fitting next-to-leading order perturbative predictions to measured angular correlations of 4-jet events together with multi-jet related variables. Our results, CA = 3.02 +/- 0.25 (stat.) +/- 0.49 (syst.), CF = 1.34 +/- 0.13 (stat.) +/- 0.22 (syst.), alpha(s)(M_Z) = 0.120 +/- 0.011 (stat.) +/- 0.020 (syst.), provide a test of perturbative QCD in which the only assumptions are non-abelian gauge symmetry and standard hadronization models. The measurements are in agreement with SU(3) expectations for CF and CA and the world average of alpha(s)(M_Z).

hep-ex↗

arXiv2001

Searches for prompt light gravitino signatures in e+e- Collisions at sqrt{s}=189GeV

Searches for final states expected in models with light gravitinos have been performed, including experimental topologies with multi-leptons with missing energy, leptons and photons with missing energy, and jets and photons with missing energy. No excess over the expectations from the Standard Model has been observed. Limits are placed on production cross-sections in the different experimental topologies. Additionally, combining with searches for the anomalous production of lepton and photon pairs with missing energy, results are interpreted in the context of minimal models of gauge mediated SUSY breaking. Exclusion limits are established at the 95% confidence level on the supersymmetric particle masses; m-slepton > 83 GeV and m-neutralino > 85 GeV for tan(beta)=2, m-stau > 69 GeV, m-selectron,-smu > 88 GeV and m-neutralino > 76 GeV for tan(beta)=20.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2001

Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson in e+e- Collisions at sqrt(s) = 192-209 GeV

A search for the Standard Model Higgs boson has been performed with the OPAL detector at LEP based on the full data sample collected at sqrt(s) = 192-209 GeV in 1999 and 2000, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 426 pb-1. The data are examined for their consistency with the background-only hypothesis and various Higgs boson mass hypotheses. A lower bound of 109.7 GeV is obtained on the Higgs boson mass at the 95% confidence level. At higher masses, the data are consistent with both the background and the signal-plus-background hypotheses.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2000

Precise Determination of the Z Resonance Parameters at LEP : Zedometry

This final analysis of hadronic and leptonic cross-sections and of leptonic forward-backward asymmetries in e+e- collisions with the OPAL detector makes use of the full LEP1 data sample comprising 161 pb^-1 of integrated luminosity and 4.5 x 10^6 selected Z decays. An interpretation of the data in terms of contributions from pure Z exchange and from Z-gamma interference allows the parameters of the Z resonance to be determined in a model-independent way. Our results are in good agreement with lepton universality and consistent with the vector and axial-vector couplings predicted in the Standard Model. A fit to the complete dataset yields the fundamental Z resonance parameters: mZ = 91.1852 +- 0.0030 GeV, GZ = 2.4948 +- 0.0041 GeV, s0h = 41.501 +- 0.055 nb, Rl = 20.823 +- 0.044, and Afb0l = 0.0145 +- 0.0017. Transforming these parameters gives a measurement of the ratio between the decay width into invisible particles and the width to a single species of charged lepton, Ginv/Gl = 5.942 +- 0.027. Attributing the entire invisible width to neutrino decays and assuming the Standard Model couplings for neutrinos, this translates into a measurement of the effective number of light neutrino species, N_nu = 2.984 +- 0.013. Interpreting the data within the context of the Standard Model allows the mass of the top quark, mt = 162 +29-16 GeV, to be determined through its influence on radiative corrections. Alternatively, utilising the direct external measurement of mt as an additional constraint leads to a measurement of the strong coupling constant and the mass of the Higgs boson: alfa_s(mZ) = 0.127 +- 0.005 and mH = 390 +750-280 GeV.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2000

A Study of Bs Meson Oscillation Using Ds-Lepton Correlations

From data collected around the Z resonance by the OPAL detector at LEP, a sample of Bs decays was obtained using Ds^-l^+ combinations, where the Ds^- was fully reconstructed in the phi pi-, K*0K- and Ks0K- decay channels or partially reconstructed in the phi l- nu (X) decay channel. These events were used to study Bs oscillation. The flavor (b or bbar) at decay was determined from the lepton charge while the flavor at production was determined from a combination of techniques. The expected sensitivity of the experiment is 4.1 ps-1. The experiment was not able to resolve the oscillatory behavior, and we deduced that the Bs oscillation frequency Delta m_s > 1.0 ps-1 at the 95% confidence level.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2000

Charged Multiplicities in Z Decays into u, d, and s Quarks

About 4.4 million hadronic decays of Z bosons, recorded by the OPAL detector at LEP at a centre-of-mass energy of around sqrt(s) = 91.2 GeV, are used to determine the mean charged particle multiplicities for the three light quark flavours. Events from primary u, d, and s quarks are tagged by selecting characteristic particles which carry a large fraction of the beam energy. The charged particle multiplicities are measured in the hemispheres opposite to these particles. An unfolding procedure is applied to obtain these multiplicities for each primary light quark flavour. This yields = 17.77 +- 0.51 +0.86 -1.20, = 21.44 +- 0.63 +1.46 -1.17, = 20.02 +- 0.13 +0.39 -0.37, where statistical and systematic errors are given. The results for and are almost fully statistically anti-correlated. Within the errors the result is consistent with the flavour independence of the strong interaction for the particle multiplicities in events from the light up, down, and strange quarks.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2000

Production rate of bb(bar) quark pairs from gluons and bb(bar)bb(bar) events in hadronic Z Decays

The rates are measured per hadronic Z decay for gluon splitting to bb(bar) quark pairs, g_bb, and of events containing two bb(bar) quark pairs, g_4b, using a sample of four-jet events selected from data collected with the OPAL detector. Events with an enhanced signal of gluon splitting to bb(bar) quarks are selected if two of the jets are close in phase-space and contain detached secondary vertices. For the event sample containing two bb(bar) quark pairs, three of the four jets are required to have a significantly detached secondary vertex. Information from the event topology is combined in a likelihood fit to extract the values of g_bb and g_4b, namely g_bb = (3.07 +- 0.53(stat) +- 0.97(syst))x10^-3 g_4b = (0.36 +- 0.17(stat) +- 0.27(syst))x10^-3

hep-ex↗

arXiv2000

Investigation of the Decay of Orbitally-Excited B Mesons and First Measurement of the Branching Ratio BR(B_J->Bpi(X))

From about 4 million hadronic Z decays recorded by the OPAL detector on and near to the Z resonance, we select a sample of more than 570000 inclusively reconstructed B mesons. Orbitally-excited mesons B*J are reconstructed using Bpi+- combinations. Independently, B* mesons are reconstructed using the decay B* -> Bgamma. The selected B* candidates are used to obtain samples enriched or depleted in the decay B*J -> B*pi+-(X), where (X) refers to decay modes with or without additional accompanying decay particles. From the number of signal candidates in the Bpi+- mass spectra of these two samples, we perform the first measurement of the branching ratio of orbitally-excited B mesons decaying into B*pi(X): BR(B*J ->B*pi(X)) = 0.85 +0.36-0.37 +- 0.12, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. If B*J decay modes other than single pion transitions can be neglected the measured ratio corresponds to the branching ratio BR(B*J->B*pi). In the framework of Heavy Quark Symmetry, a simultaneous fit to the Bpi+- mass spectra of the samples enriched or depleted in B*J->B*pi+-(X) decays yields the mass and the width of the B1(3/2) state, as well as the branching ratio of B*J mesons decaying into B*pi: M(B1(3/2)) = (5.738 +0.005-0.006 +-0.007) GeV/c2 G(B1(3/2)) = (18 +15-13 +29-23) MeV/c BR(B*J->B*pi) = 0.74 +0.12-0.10 +0.21-0.15, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2000

Measurement of the B0 Lifetime and Oscillation Frequency using B0->D*+l-v decays

The lifetime and oscillation frequency of the B0 meson has been measured using B0->D*+l-v decays recorded on the Z0 peak with the OPAL detector at LEP. The D*+ -> D0pi+ decays were reconstructed using an inclusive technique and the production flavour of the B0 mesons was determined using a combination of tags from the rest of the event. The results t_B0 = 1.541 +- 0.028 +- 0.023 ps, Dm_d = 0.497 +- 0.024 +- 0.025 ps-1 were obtained, where in each case the first error is statistical and the second systematic.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2000

Measurement of triple gauge boson couplings from WW production at LEP energies up to 189 GeV

A measurement of triple gauge boson couplings is presented, based on W-pair data recorded by the OPAL detector at LEP during 1998 at a centre-of-mass energy of 189 GeV with an integrated luminosity of 183 pb^-1. After combining with our previous measurements at centre-of-mass energies of 161-183 GeV we obtain k_g=0.97 +0.20 -0.16, g_1^z=0.991 +0.060 -0.057 and lambda_g=-0.110 +0.058 -0.055, where the errors include both statistical and systematic uncertainties and each coupling is determined by setting the other two couplings to their SM values. These results are consistent with the Standard Model expectations.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2000

Measurement of W boson polarisations and CP-violating triple gauge couplings from W+W- production at LEP

Measurements are presented of the polarisation of W+W- boson pairs produced in e+e- collisions, and of CP-violating WWZ and WWGamma trilinear gauge couplings. The data were recorded by the OPAL experiment at LEP during 1998, where a total integrated luminosity of 183 pb^-1 was obtained at a centre-of-mass energy of 189 GeV. The measurements are performed through a spin density matrix analysis of the W boson decay products. The fraction of W bosons produced with longitudinal polarisation was found to be sigma_L/sigma_total = (21.0 +- 3.3 +- 1.6)% where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. The joint W boson pair production fractions were found to be sigma_TT/sigma_total = (78.1 +- 9.0 +- 3.2) %, sigma_LL/sigma_total = (20.1 +- 7.2 +- 1.8) % and sigma_TL/sigma_total = (1.8 +- 14.7 +- 3.8) %. In the CP-violating trilinear gauge coupling sector we find kappa_z = -0.20 +0.10 -0.07, g^z_4 = -0.02 +0.32 -0.33 and lambda_z = -0.18 +0.24 -0.16, where errors include both statistical and systematic uncertainties. In each case the coupling is determined with all other couplings set to their Standard Model values except those related to the measured coupling via SU(2)_LxU(1)_Y symmetry. These results are consistent with Standard Model expectations.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2000

A Study of One-Prong Tau Decays with a Charged Kaon

From an analysis of the ionisation energy loss of charged particles selected from 110326 e+e- -> tau+tau- candidates recorded by the OPAL detector at e+e- centre-of-mass energies near the Z0 resonance, we determine the one-prong tau decay branching ratios: Br(tau- -> nu_tau K- >=0h0) = 1.528 +- 0.039 +- 0.040 % Br(tau- -> nu_tau K-) = 0.658 +- 0.024 +- 0.029 % where the h0 notation refers to a pi0, an eta, a K^0_S, or a K^0_L, and where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2000

A Measurement of the Rate of Charm Production in W Decays

Using data recorded at centre-of-mass energies around 183 GeV and 189 GeV with the OPAL detector at LEP, the fundamental coupling of the charm quark to the W boson has been studied. The ratio Rc^W = Gamma(W -> cX)/Gamma(W -> hadrons) has been measured from jet properties, lifetime information, and leptons produced in charm decays. A value compatible with the Standard Model expectation of 0.5 is obtained: Rc^W = 0.481 +- 0.042(stat.) +- 0.032(syst.). By combining this result with measurements of the W boson total width and hadronic branching ratio, the magnitude of the CKM matrix element Vcs is determined to be |Vcs| = 0.969 +- 0.058.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2000

WW Production Cross Section and W Branching Fractions in e+e- Collisions at 189 GeV

From a data sample of 183 pb^-1 recorded at a center-of-mass energy of roots = 189 GeV with the OPAL detector at LEP, 3068 W-pair candidate events are selected. Assuming Standard Model W boson decay branching fractions, the W-pair production cross section is measured to be sigmaWW = 16.30 +- 0.34(stat.) +- 0.18(syst.) pb. When combined with previous OPAL measurements, the W boson branching fraction to hadrons is determined to be 68.32 +- 0.61(stat.) +- 0.28(syst.) % assuming lepton universality. These results are consistent with Standard Model expectations.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2000

Measurement of the Mass and Width of the W Boson in e+e- Collisions at 189 GeV

The mass and width of the W boson are determined in e+e- collisions at LEP using 183 pb^-1 of data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy roots=189 GeV with the OPAL detector. The invariant mass distributions from 970 WW->qqqq and 1118 WW->qqln candidate events are used to measure the mass of the W boson, Mw = 80.451 +- 0.076(stat.) +- 0.049(syst.) GeV. A direct measurement of the width of the W boson gives Gw=2.09 +- 0.18(stat.) +- 0.09(syst.) GeV. The results are combined with previous OPAL results from 78 pb^-1 of data recorded with roots from 161 to 183 GeV, to obtain: Mw = 80.432 +- 0.066(stat.) +- 0.045(syst.) GeV, Gw = 2.04 +- 0.16(stat.) +- 0.09(syst.) GeV. The consistency of the direct measurement of Mw with that inferred from other measurements of electroweak parameters provides an important test of the Standard Model of electroweak interactions.

hep-ex↗