Measurement of A_{FB}^{\mathrm{b}\overline{\mathrm{b}}} in hadronic Z decays using a jet charge technique

The b`b]\mbox{b}\bar{\mbox{b}} forward-backward asymmetry has been determined from the average charge flow measured in a sample of 3,500,000 hadronic Z decays collected with the DELPHI detector in 1992–1995. The measurement is performed in an enriched b`b]\mbox{b}\bar{\mbox{b}} sample selected using an impact parameter tag and results in the following values for the b`b]\mbox{b}\bar{\mbox{b}} forward-backward asymmetry: $ \begin{gathered} A_{FB}^{b\bar b} \left( {89.55 GeV} \right) = 0.068 \pm 0.018 \left( {stat.} \right) \pm 0.0013\left( {syst.} \right) \hfill \\ A_{FB}^{b\bar b} \left( {91.26 GeV} \right) = 0.0982 \pm 0.0047 \left( {stat.} \right) \pm 0.0016\left( {syst.} \right) \hfill \\ A_{FB}^{b\bar b} \left( {92.94 GeV} \right) = 0.123 \pm 0.016 \left( {stat.} \right) \pm 0.0027\left( {syst.} \right) \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $ \begin{gathered} A_{FB}^{b\bar b} \left( {89.55 GeV} \right) = 0.068 \pm 0.018 \left( {stat.} \right) \pm 0.0013\left( {syst.} \right) \hfill \\ A_{FB}^{b\bar b} \left( {91.26 GeV} \right) = 0.0982 \pm 0.0047 \left( {stat.} \right) \pm 0.0016\left( {syst.} \right) \hfill \\ A_{FB}^{b\bar b} \left( {92.94 GeV} \right) = 0.123 \pm 0.016 \left( {stat.} \right) \pm 0.0027\left( {syst.} \right) \hfill \\ \end{gathered} The b`b]\mbox{b}\bar{\mbox{b}} charge separation required for this analysis is directly measured in the b tagged sample, while the other charge separations are obtained from a fragmentation model precisely calibrated to data. The effective weak mixing angle is deduced from the measurement to be: $ sin^2 \theta _{eff}^1 = 0.23186 \pm 0.00083 $ sin^2 \theta _{eff}^1 = 0.23186 \pm 0.00083