Energy dependence of the differences between the quark and gluon jet fragmentation

Three jet events arising from decays of the Z boson, collected by the DELPHI detector, were used to measure differences in quark and gluon fragmentation. Gluon jets were anti-tagged by identifying b quark jets. Unbiased quark jets came from events with two jets plus one photon. Quark and gluon jet properties in different energy ranges were compared for the first time within the same detector. Quark and gluon jets of nearly the same energy in symmetric three jet event topologies were also compared. Using three independent methods, the average value of the ratio of the mean charged multiplicities of gluon and quark jets is $$=1.241\pm 0.015\ (stat.) \pm 0.025\ (syst.).$$ Gluon jets are broader and produce fragments with a softer energy spectrum than quark jets of equivalent energy. The string effect has been observed in fully symmetric three jet events. The measured ratio R_{\gamma} of the charged particle flow in the q\overline{q} inter-jet region of the q\bar{q}g and q\bar{q}\gamma samples agrees with the perturbative QCD expectation. The dependence of the mean charged multiplicity on the hadronic center-of-mass energy was analysed in photon plus n-jet events. The value for \alpha_s(M_Z) determined from these data using a QCD prediction with corrections at leading and next-to-leading order is \[ \alpha_s(M_Z)=0.116 \pm 0.003\ (stat.) \pm 0.009\ (syst.). \

Measurement of inclusive π0\pi^{0} production in hadronic Z0Z^{0} decays

An analysis is presented of inclusive \pi^0 production in Z^0 decays measured with the DELPHI detector. At low energies, \pi^0 decays are reconstructed by \linebreak using pairs of converted photons and combinations of converted photons and photons reconstructed in the barrel electromagnetic calorimeter (HPC). At high energies (up to x_p = 2 \cdot p_{\pi}/\sqrt{s} = 0.75) the excellent granularity of the HPC is exploited to search for two-photon substructures in single showers. The inclusive differential cross section is measured as a function of energy for {q\overline q} and {b \bar b} events. The number of \pi^0's per hadronic Z^0 event is N(\pi^0)/ Z_{had}^0 = 9.2 \pm 0.2 \mbox{(stat)} \pm 1.0 \mbox{(syst)} and for {b \bar b}~events the number of \pi^0's is {\mathrm N(\pi^0)/ b \overline b} = 10.1 \pm 0.4 \mbox{(stat)} \pm 1.1 \mbox{(syst)} . The ratio of the number of \pi^0's in b \overline b events to hadronic Z^0 events is less affected by the systematic errors and is found to be 1.09 \pm 0.05 \pm 0.01. The measured \pi^0 cross sections are compared with the predictions of different parton shower models. For hadronic events, the peak position in the \mathrm \xi_p = \ln(1/x_p) distribution is \xi_p^{\star} = 3.90^{+0.24}_{-0.14}. The average number of \pi^0's from the decay of primary \mathrm B hadrons is found to be {\mathrm N} (B \rightarrow \pi^0 \, X)/\mbox{B hadron} = 2.78 \pm 0.15 \mbox{(stat)} \pm 0.60 \mbox{(syst)}

Search for new phenomena using single photon events in the DELPHI detector at LEP

Data are presented on the reaction \epem~\into~\gamma + no other detected particle at center-of-mass energies, \sqs = 89.48 GeV, 91.26 GeV and 93.08 GeV. The cross section for this reaction is related directly to the number of light neutrino generations which couple to the \zz boson, and to several other phenomena such as excited neutrinos, the production of an invisible `X' particle, a possible magnetic moment of the tau neutrino, and neutral monojets. Based on the observed number of single photon events, the number of light neutrinos which couple to the \zz is measured to be N_\nu = 3.15 \pm 0.34. No evidence is found for anomalous production of energetic single photons, and upper limits at the 95\% confidence level are determined for excited neutrino production (BR < 4-9 \times 10^{-6}), production of an invisible `X' particle (\sigma < 0.1 pb), and the magnetic moment of the tau neutrino (< 5.2 \times 10^{-6} \mu_B). No event with the topology of a neutral monojet is found, and this corresponds to the limit \sigma < 0.044/\epsilon pb at the 95\% confidence level, where \epsilon is the unknown overall monojet detection efficiency

Limits on the production of scalar leptoquarks from Z (0) decays at LEP

A search has been made for pairs and for single production of scalar leptoquarks of the first and second generations using a data sample of 392000 Z0 decays from the DELPHI detector at LEP 1. No signal was found and limits on the leptoquark mass, production cross section and branching ratio were set. A mass limit at 95% confidence level of 45.5 GeV/c2 was obtained for leptoquark pair production. The search for the production of a single leptoquark probed the mass region above this limit and its results exclude first and second generation leptoquarks D0 with masses below 65 GeV/c2 and 73 GeV/c2 respectively, at 95% confidence level, assuming that the D0lq Yukawa coupling alpha(lambda) is equal to the electromagnetic one. An upper limit is also given on the coupling alpha(lambda) as a function of the leptoquark mass m(D0)

Updated precision measurement of the average lifetime of B hadrons

The measurement of the average lifetime of B hadrons using inclusively reconstructed secondary vertices has been updated using both an improved processing of previous data and additional statistics from new data. This has reduced the statistical and systematic uncertainties and gives \tau_{\mathrm{B}} = 1.582 \pm 0.011\ \mathrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.027\ \mathrm{(syst.)}\ \mathrm{ps.} Combining this result with the previous result based on charged particle impact parameter distributions yields \tau_{\mathrm{B}} = 1.575 \pm 0.010\ \mathrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.026\ \mathrm{(syst.)}\ \mathrm{ps.

Measurement of inclusive K*0(892), phi(1020) and K*0_2(1430) production in hadronic Z decays

The inclusive production of the neutral vector mesons K*0(892) and φ(1020), and of the tensor meson K2*0(1430), in hadronic decays of the Z has been measured by the DELPHI detector at LEP. The average production rates per hadronic Z decay have been determined to be 0.77 ± 0.08 K*0(892), 0.104 ± 0.008 φ(1020) and 0.079 ± 0.040 K2*0(1430). The ratio of the tensor-to-vector meson production yields, 〈K2*0(1430)〉/〈K *0(892)〉 = 0.10± 0.05, is smaller than the 〈f2(1270)〉/〈ρ0(770)〉 and 〈f2′(1525)〉 /〈φ(1020)〉 ratios measured by DELPHI. The production rates and differential cross sections are compared with the predictions of JETSET 7.4 tuned to the DELPHI data and of HERWIG 5.8. The K*0(892) and φ(1020) data are compatible with model predictions, but a large disagreement is observed for the K2*0(1430)

First study of the interference between initial and final state radiation at the Z resonance

The interference between initial and final state radiation in the process \eemm\ at \sqs \approx \MZ has been studied by measuring the forward-backward asymmetry as a function of the acoplanarity angle between the final state muons. The interference is expected to be sensitive to the space-time separation of the initial and final state radiation. The measured asymmetry distribution has been compared to theoretical predictions using the \KORALZ\ generator, with and without Ördalph\ interference. The magnitude of the interference between initial and $\pm 0.06$ (syst.) \GeV} . \end{center} has been extracted. The interpretation of this result is discussed. There is an additional uncertainty in the estimate of \GZ\ from as yet uncalculated higher order interference terms. By assuming a value of \GZ\ consistent with the world average, the data were used to estimate the size of these uncalculated corrections. The interference between initial and final state radiation in the process \eemm\ at \sqs \approx \MZ has been studied by measuring the forward-backward asymmetry as a function of the acoplanarity angle between the final state muons. The interference is expected to be sensitive to the space-time separation of the initial and final state radiation. The measured asymmetry distribution has been compared to theoretical predictions using the \KORALZ\ generator, with and without \ordalph\ interference. The magnitude of the interference between initial and final state radiation was found to be of the order predicted and to follow the expected distribution. Using the theoretical predictions, a value of \begin{center} \mbox{ \GZ = 2.50 \pm 0.21 (stat.) \pm 0.06 (syst.) \GeV} . \end{center} has been extracted. The interpretation of this result is discussed. There is an additional uncertainty in the estimate of \GZ\ from as yet uncalculated higher order interference terms. By assuming a value of \GZ\ consistent with the world average, the data were used to estimate the size of these uncalculated corrections

Search for promptly produced heavy quarkonium states in hadronic Z decays

A search has been made for direct production of heavy quarkonium states in more than 3 million hadronic Z^{0} decays in the 1991-1994 DELPHI data. Prompt J/\psi, \psi(2S) and \Upsilon candidates have been searched for through their leptonic decay modes using criteria based on the kinematics and decay vertex positions. New upper limits are set at the 90 \% confidence level for {Br( Z^0 \rightarrow \left( Q \bar{Q} \right) X ) / Br( Z^0 \rightarrow \mbox{hadrons})} for various strong production mechanisms of J/\psi and \Upsilon; these range down to 0.9 \times 10^{-4}. The limits are set in the presence of a small excess (\sim 1 \% statistical probability of a background fluctuation) in the sum of candidates from prompt J/\psi, \psi(2S), \Upsilon(1S), \Upsilon(2S) and \Upsilon(3S) relative to the estimated backgrou