We report on a study of inclusive production ofD*± mesons ine+e− annihilation at c.m. energies between 28 and 46.8 GeV using the TASSO detector at the PETRA storage ring. A hardD*± energy spectrum is measured with a maximum nearED*±≃0.6Ebeam. The measured cross section ratio\((\sigma _{D^{* + } }+ \sigma _{D^{* - } } )/\sigma _{\mu \mu }= 1.28 \pm 0.09 \pm 0.18\) indicates thatD* production accounts for a large fraction of the observed charm production. Two complementary methods have been used to determine the forward-backward asymmetry of charm pair production due to electroweak interference. Combining both measurements the product of the axial vector couplings of the electron and the charm quark to the weak neutral current was determined to begAegAc=−(0.276±0.073), in agreement with the standard model prediction of −0.25. Using a sample of reconstructedD*± mesons, the relative strength of the strong interaction coupling of thec quark compared to that of an average of all flavours is measured as αs(c)/αs(all)=0.91±0.38±0.15, consistent with the coupling constant being flavour independent. An update of ourD0 lifetime measurement is presented, based on a considerable increase in statistics, the final result being\(\tau _{D^0= } (4.8 \pm _{0.9 - 0.7}^{1.0 + 0.5} )10^{ - 13} s\).

The e + e − → τ + τ − process has been measured using the CELLO detector at a mean total centre of mass energy of 34.2 GeV using essentially all the decay channels of the τ lepton. The measured cross section yields R τ =1.03±0.05 (stat)±0.07 (syst). Topological branching fraction are given for τ → 1, 3 or 5 charged tracks. The angular distribution shows a clear 1 + cos 2 θ dependance with a forward-backward asymmetry of -0.103 ± 0.052 corresponding to an axial-vector coupling a τ of the τ to the weak neutral current given by a τ =−1.12 ± 0.57.

We present a new measurement of the virtual photon proton asymmetry A 1 p from deep inelastic scattering of polarized muons on polarized protons in the kinematic range 0.0008 < x < 0.7 and 0.2 < Q 2 < 100 GeV 2 . With this, the statistical uncertainty of our measurement has improved by a factor of 2 compared to our previous measurements. The spin-dependent structure function g 1 p is determined for the data with Q 2 > 1 GeV 2 . A perturbative QCD evolution in next-to-leading order is used to determine g 1 p ( x ) at a constant Q 2 . At Q 2 = 10 GeV 2 we find, in the measured range, ∫ 0.003 0.7 g 1 P (x) d x=0.139±0.006 ( stat ) ±0.008 ( syst ) ±0.006( evol ) . The value of the first moment Г 1 P = ∫ 0 1 g 1 p (x) d x of g 1 p depends on the approach used to describe the behaviour of g 1 p at low x . We find that the Ellis-Jaffe sum rule is violated. With our published result for Γ 1 d we confirm the Bjorken sum rule with an accuracy of ≈ 15% at the one standard deviation level.

Production of events with hadronic and leptonic final states has been measured in e^+e^- collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 130-172 GeV, using the OPAL detector at LEP. Cross-sections and leptonic forward-backward asymmetries are presented, both including and excluding the dominant production of radiative Z \gamma events, and compared to Standard Model expectations. The ratio R_b of the cross-section for bb(bar) production to the hadronic cross-section has been measured. In a model-independent fit to the Z lineshape, the data have been used to obtain an improved precision on the measurement of \gamma-Z interference. The energy dependence of \alpha_em has been investigated. The measurements have also been used to obtain limits on extensions of the Standard Model described by effective four-fermion contact interactions, to search for t-channel contributions from new massive particles and to place limits on chargino pair production with subsequent decay of the chargino into a light gluino and a quark pair.

Based on 520 000 fermion pairs accumulated during the first three years of data collection by the ALEPH detector at LEP, updated values of the resonance parameters of theZ are determined to beMZ=(91.187±0.009) GeV, ΓZ=(2.501±0.012) GeV, σhad0=(41.60±0.27) nb, andRℓ=20.78±0.13. The corresponding number of light neutrino species isNν=2.97±0.05. The forward-backward asymmetry in lepton-pair decays is used to determine the ratio of vector to axial-vector couplings of leptons:gV2(MZ2)/gA2(MZ2)=0.0052±0.0016. Combining this with ALEPH measurements of theb andc quark asymmetries and τ polarization gives sin2θWeff=0.2326±0.0013. Assuming the minimal Standard Model, and including measurements ofMW/MZ fromp\(\bar p\) colliders and neutrino-nucleon scattering, the mass of the top quark is\(M_{top} = 156 \pm \begin{array}{*{20}c} {22} \\ {25} \\ \end{array} \pm \begin{array}{*{20}c} {17} \\ {22Higgs} \\ \end{array} \) GeV.

During the LEP running periods in 1990 and 1991 DELPHI has accumulated approximately 450 000 Z 0 decays into hadrons and charged leptons. The increased event statistics coupled with improved analysis techniques and improved knowledge of the LEP beam energies permit significantly better measurements of the mass and width of the Z 0 resonance. Model independent fits to the cross sections and leptonic forward- backward asymmetries yield the following Z 0 parameters: the mass and total width M Z = 91.187 ± 0.009 GeV, Γ Z = 2.486 ± 0.012 GeV, the hadronicf and leptonic partials widths Γ had = 1.725 ± 0.012 GeV, Γ ℓ = 83.01 ± 0.52 MeV, the invisible width Γ inv = 512 ± 10 MeV, the ratio of hadronic to leptonic partial widths R ℓ = 20.78 ± 0.15, and the Born level hadronic peak cross section σ 0 = 40.90 ± 0.28 nb. Using these results and the value of α s determined from DELPHI data, the number of light neutrino species is determined to be 3.08 ± 0.05. The individual leptonic widths are found to be: Γ e = 82.93 ± 0.70 MeV, Γ μ = 83.20 ± 1.11 MeV and Γ τ = 82.89 ± 1.31 MeV. Using the measured leptonic forward-backward asymmetries and assuming lepton universality, the squared vector and axial-vector couplings of the Z 0 to charged leptons are found to be g V ℓ 2 = (1.47 ± 0.51) × 10 −3 and g A ℓ 2 = 0.2483 ± 0.0016. A full Standard Model fit to the data yields a value of the top mass m t = 115 −82 +52 (expt.) −24 +52 (Higgs) GeV, corresponding to a value of the weak mixing angle sin 2 θ eff lept = 0.2339±0.0015 (expt.) −0.0004 +0.0001 (Higgs). Values are obtained for the variables S and T , or ϵ 1 and ϵ 3 which parameterize electroweak loop effects.

At the Fermilab Tevatron proton-antiproton ($p\bar{p}$) collider, Drell-Yan lepton pairs are produced in the process $p \bar{p} \rightarrow e^+e^- + X$ through an intermediate $\gamma^*/Z$ boson. The forward-backward asymmetry in the polar-angle distribution of the $e^-$ as a function of the $e^+e^-$-pair mass is used to obtain $\sin^2\theta^{\rm lept}_{\rm eff}$, the effective leptonic determination of the electroweak-mixing parameter $\sin^2\theta_W$. The measurement sample, recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF), corresponds to 9.4~fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity from $p\bar{p}$ collisions at a center-of-momentum energy of 1.96 TeV, and is the full CDF Run II data set. The value of $\sin^2\theta^{\rm lept}_{\rm eff}$ is found to be $0.23248 \pm 0.00053$. The combination with the previous CDF measurement based on $\mu^+\mu^-$ pairs yields $\sin^2\theta^{\rm lept}_{\rm eff} = 0.23221 \pm 0.00046$. This result, when interpreted within the specified context of the standard model assuming $\sin^2 \theta_W = 1 - M_W^2/M_Z^2$ and that the $W$- and $Z$-boson masses are on-shell, yields $\sin^2\theta_W = 0.22400 \pm 0.00045$, or equivalently a $W$-boson mass of $80.328 \pm 0.024 \;{\rm GeV}/c^2$.

Drell-Yan lepton pairs are produced in the process $p\bar{p} \rightarrow \mu^+\mu^- + X$ through an intermediate $\gamma^*/Z$ boson. The forward-backward asymmetry in the polar-angle distribution of the $\mu^-$ as a function of the invariant mass of the $\mu^+\mu^-$ pair is used to obtain the effective leptonic determination $\sin^2 \theta^{lept}_{eff}$ of the electroweak-mixing parameter $\sin^2 \theta_W$, from which the value of $\sin^2 \theta_W$ is derived assuming the standard model. The measurement sample, recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF), corresponds to 9.2 fb-1 of integrated luminosity from $p\bar{p}$ collisions at a center-of-momentum energy of 1.96 TeV, and is the full CDF Run II data set. The value of $\sin^2 \theta^{lept}_{eff}$ is found to be 0.2315 +- 0.0010, where statistical and systematic uncertainties are combined in quadrature. When interpreted within the context of the standard model using the on-shell renormalization scheme, where $\sin^2 \theta_W = 1 - M_W^2/M_Z^2$, the measurement yields $\sin^2 \theta_W$ = 0.2233 +- 0.0009, or equivalently a W-boson mass of 80.365 +- 0.047 GeV/c^2. The value of the W-boson mass is in agreement with previous determinations in electron-positron collisions and at the Tevatron collider.

The properties of theZ resonance are measured on the basis of 190 000Z decays into fermion pairs collected with the ALEPH detector at LEP. Assuming lepton universality,Mz=(91.182±0.009exp±0.020L∶P) GeV,ГZ=(2484±17) MeV, σhad0=(41.44±0.36) nb, andГjad/Гℓℓ=21.00±0.20. The corresponding number of light neutrino species is 2.97±0.07. The forward-back-ward asymmetry in leptonic decays is used to determine the ratio of vector to axial-vector coupling constants of leptons:gv2(MZ2)/gA2(MZ2)=0.0072±0.0027. Combining these results with ALEPH results on quark charge and\(b\bar b\) asymmetries, and τ polarization, sin2θW(MZ2). In the contex of the Minimal Standard Model, limits are placed on the top-quark mass.

The forward-backward charge asymmetry for the process e + e − → b b ̄ → μ ± + hadrons has been measured using the JADE detector at PETRA. An asymmetry of (−22.8 ± 6.0 ± 2.5)% was observed at an average center of mass energy of 34.6 GeV. For comparison, an asymmetry of −25.2% is expected on the basis of the standard Glashow-Salam-Weinberg model.