An upper limit on the \tau neutrino mass from three- and five-prong tau decays

A bound on the tau neutrino mass is established using the data collected from 1991 to 1995 at with the ALEPH detector. Two separate limits are derived by fitting the distribution of visible energy vs invariant mass in and decays. The two results are combined to obtain a 95% confidence level upper limit of 18.2 MeV/c on the mass of the tau neutrino. Received: 30 October 1997 / Published online: 10 March 1998     

An upper limit for the \tau–neutrino mass from \tau\rightarrow 5\pi^{\pm}\nu_{\tau} decays

An upper limit for the –neutrino mass has been determined from the decay using data collected with the OPAL detector from 1991 to 1995 in collisions at . A limit of 43.2 MeV at 95% CL is obtained using a two–dimensional method in the invariant mass and energy distribution from 22 selected events. Combining this result with OPAL's previously published measurement using decays, a new combined limit of MeV (95% CL) is obtained. Received: 15 April 1998 / Published online: 12 August 1998     

Search for anomalous production of acoplanar di-lepton events in {\rm e^+e^-} collisions at \sqrt{s} = 183 and 189 GeV

A selection of di-lepton events with significant missing transverse momentum has been performed using a total data sample of 237.4 pb at centre-of-mass energies of approximately 183 GeV and 189 GeV. The observed numbers of events – 78 at 183 GeV and 301 at 189 GeV – are consistent with the numbers expected from Standard Model processes, which arise predominantly from production with both W bosons decaying leptonically. This topology is also an experimental signature for the pair production of new particles that decay to a charged lepton accompanied by one or more invisible particles. Discrimination techniques are described that optimise the sensitivity to particular new physics channels. No evidence for new phenomena is apparent. Upper limits on the production cross-section times branching ratio squared for sleptons and for leptonically decaying charginos and charged Higgs are presented in a manner intended to minimise the number of model assumptions. Assuming a 100% branching ratio for the decay , where is the lightest neutralino, we exclude at 95% CL: right-handed smuons with masses below 82.3 GeV for GeV and right-handed staus with masses below 81.0 GeV for GeV. Right-handed selectrons are excluded at 95% CL for masses below 87.1 GeV for GeV, within the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model assuming GeV and . Charged Higgs bosons, H, are excluded at 95% CL for masses below 82.8 GeV, assuming a 100% branching ratio for the decay . Received: 6 September 1999 / Published online: 6 April 2000     

Search for R-parity violating production of single sneutrinos in ee collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 189-209 GeV

A search for single sneutrino production under the assumption that R-parity is violated via a single dominant coupling is presented. This search considers the process and is performed using the data collected by the ALEPH detector at centre-of-mass energies from 189 GeV up to 209 GeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 637.1 pb^-1. The numbers of observed candidate events are in agreement with Standard Model expectations and 95% confidence level upper limits on five of the couplings are given as a function of the assumed sneutrino mass. Received: 19 December 2001 / Published online: 26 July 2002     

Improved search for $B_{s}^{0} - \overline{B}_{s}^{0}$ oscillations

An improved search for B _s ⁰ oscillations is performed in the ALEPH data sample collected during the first phase of LEP, and reprocessed in 1998. Three analyses based on complementary event selections are presented. First, decays of B _s ⁰ mesons into hadronic flavour eigenstates are fully reconstructed. This selection yields a small sample of candidates with excellent decay length and momentum resolution and hi gh average B _s ⁰ purity. Semileptonic decays with a reconstructed D _s ^- meson provide a second sample with larger statistics, high average B _s ⁰ purity, but a poorer momentum and decay length resolution due to the partial decay reconstruction. Finally, semileptonic b-hadron decays are inclusively selected and yield the data sample with the highest sensitivity to B _s ⁰ oscillations, as the much higher statistics compensate for the low average B _s ⁰ purity and poorer time resolution. A lower limit is set atps^-1 at 95% C.L., significantly lower than the expected limit of 15.2 ps^-1. Received: 21 February 2003 / Published online: 11 June 2003     

Upper limit on beauty lifetime and lower limit on weak mixing angles

Muons from a multihadron sample are used to determine an upper limit τ<1.4 × 10^?12s (95% CL) on the lifetime of beauty particles. The data are obtained with the JADE detector at PETRA. The result is interpreted within the standard model.     

Search for neutral Higgs bosons in Z0 decays using the OPAL detector at LEP

A search for neutral Higgs bosons has been performed using the full sample of Z⁰ decays collected by the OPAL detector at LEP up to 1995. The data were taken at centre-of-mass energies between 88 GeV and 95 GeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of approximately 160 pb^?1. The present search addresses the processes Z⁰→H⁰Z* and h⁰Z*, where H⁰ is the Higgs boson predicted by the Standard Model and h⁰ the lightest neutral scalar Higgs boson predicted in the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. For the virtual Z⁰ boson, Z*, the following decay channels are considered: Z*→vv?, e⁺e^? and μ⁺μ^?. Two candidate events have been found in the vv?H⁰ channel and one in the μ⁺μ^?H⁰ channel. Combined with earlier searches, the present search excludes the SM Higgs boson, at the 95% confidence level (CL), from the mass range below 59.6 GeV. In the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, allowing a wide range of variation for most relevant model parameters, a 95% CL lower limit of 44.3 GeV is obtained for the mass of the h⁰ boson. Combined with earlier direct searches for the Higgs boson pair production process Z⁰→h⁰A⁰ and with measurements of the Z⁰ line shape, a 95% CL lower limit of 23.5 GeV is obtained for the mass of the pseudoscalar Higgs boson A⁰, assuming tan β≥ 1.     

Measurement of the τ lepton lifetime

The mean lifetime of the τ lepton is measured in a sample of 25700 τ pairs collected in 1992 with the ALEPH detector at LEP. A new analysis of the 1-1 topology events is introduced. In this analysis, the dependence of the impact parameter sum distribution on the daughter track momenta is taken into account, yielding improved precision compared to other impact parameter sum methods. Three other analyses of the one- and three-prong τ decays are updated with increased statistics. The measured lifetime is 293.5±3.1± 1.7 fs. Including previous (1989–1991) ALEPH measurements, the combined τ lifetime is 293.7±2.7±1.6fs.     

Search for the standard model Higgs boson at the LEP2 collider near

During 1997 the ALEPH experiment at LEP gathered 57 pb⁻¹ of data at centre-of-mass energies near 183 GeV. These data are used to look for possible signals from the production of the Standard Model Higgs boson in the reaction e⁺e⁻→HZ. No evidence of a signal is found in the data; seven events are selected, in agreement with the expectation of 7.2 events from background processes. This observation results in an improved lower limit on the mass of the Higgs boson: m_H>87.9 GeV/c² at 95% confidence level.     

Search for Higgs bosons decaying to WW in e+e- collisions at LEP

A search for Higgs bosons produced in association with a fermion pair, and decaying to WW, is performed with the data collected by the ALEPH detector at centre-of-mass energies ranging from 191 to 209 GeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 453.2 pb^-1. Thirteen exclusive selections are developed according to the different final state topologies. No statistically significant evidence for a Higgs boson decaying into a WW pair has been found. An upper limit is derived, as a function of the Higgs boson mass, on the product of the e⁺e^-→Hff̄ cross section and the H→WW branching ratio. The data on the search for H→WW are combined with previously published ALEPH results on the search for H→γγ, to significantly extend the limits on the mass of a fermiophobic Higgs boson.     

Search for technicolor with DELPHI

Technicolor represents a viable alternative to the Higgs mechanism for generating gauge boson masses. Searches for technicolor particles and have been performed in the data collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP at centre-of-mass energies between 192 and 208 GeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 452 pb. Good agreement is observed with the SM expectation in all channels studied. This is translated into an excluded region in the plane. The production is excluded for all GeV/c. Assuming a point-like interaction of the with gauge bosons, an absolute lower limit on the charged mass at 95% CL is set at 79.8 GeV/c, independently of other parameters of the technicolor model. Received: 10 August 2001 / Published online: 5 November 2001     

Direct top-quark width measurement at CDF

We present a measurement of the top-quark width in the lepton+jets decay channel of tt events produced in p p collisions at Fermilab's Tevatron collider and collected by the CDF II detector. From a data sample corresponding to 4.3 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity, we identify 756 candidate events. The top-quark mass and the mass of the hadronically decaying W boson that comes from the top-quark decay are reconstructed for each event and compared with templates of different top-quark widths (Γ(t)) and deviations from nominal jet energy scale (Δ(JES)) to perform a simultaneous fit for both parameters, where Δ(JES) is used for the in situ calibration of the jet energy scale. By applying a Feldman-Cousins approach, we establish an upper limit at 95% confidence level (CL) of Γ(t) <7.6 GeV and a two-sided 68% CL interval of 0.3 GeV <Γ(t) <4.4 GeV for a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV/c(2), which are consistent with the standard model prediction.     

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 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 (C.L.) of parameters of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model are determined for the case of a large universal scalar mass, , implying heavy scalar fermions, and for the case of a small resulting in light scalar fermions and giving the worst-case limits. Within this framework and for GeV the 95% C.L. lower limits on for GeV are 90.0 and 90.2 GeV for and 35 respectively. These limits for all (the worst-case) are 69.1 and 65.2 GeV for 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 GeV (24.2 GeV for all ), with implications for experimental searches for the lightest neutralino as a dark matter candidate. Received: 19 August 1998 / Published online: 11 March 1999     

Investigation of inclusive CP asymmetries in \rm B^0 decays

A search for CP violating effects in the mixing of neutral B mesons is performed using a sample of 4.1 million hadronic Z decays collected with the ALEPH detector from 1991 to 1995. By studying time-dependent asymmetries in flavour-tagged samples of semileptonic and fully inclusive b-hadron decays, two measurements of the semileptonic asymmetry are extracted. No evidence for CP violation is observed, and the combined value is obtained. Received: 26 July 2000 / Published online: 8 June 2001     

Measurement of triple gauge-boson couplings at LEP energies up to 189 GeV

The triple gauge-boson couplings involving the W are determined using data samples collected with the ALEPH detector at mean centre-of-mass energies of 183 GeV and 189 GeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 57 pb and 174 pb, respectively. The couplings, , and , are measured using W-pair events, single-{\it W} production and single- production. Each coupling is measured individually with the other two couplings fixed at their standard model value. Including ALEPH results from lower energies, the 95% confidence level intervals for the deviation to the standard model are , , and . Fits are also presented where two or all three couplings are allowed to vary. In addition, W-pair events are used to set limits on the C- or P-violating couplings , , , and , where V denotes either or Z. No deviations from the standard model expectations are observed. Received: 28 February 2001 / Published online: 24 August 2001     

Reanalysis of the Das et al. sum rule and application to chiral O(p^4) parameters

A sum rule due to Das et al. is reanalyzed using a euclidian space approach and a Padé resummation procedure. It is shown that the result is essentially determined by the matrix elements of dimension six and dimension eight operators which have recently been measured by the ALEPH collaboration. The result is further improved by using the vector spectral function which must be extrapolated to the chiral limit. This extrapolation is shown to be reliably performed under the constraint of a set of sum rules. The sum rule is employed not as an approximation to but as an exact result for a chiral low-energy parameter. A sufficiently precise evaluation provides also an estimate for a combination of subleading electromagnetic low-energy parameters. Received: 17 April 1998 / Published online: 16 September 1998     

Search for chargino and neutralino production at \sqrt{s} = 170 and 172 GeV at LEP

A search for charginos and neutralinos, predicted by supersymmetric theories, has been performed using a data sample of pb at centre-of-mass energies of 170 and 172 GeV with the OPAL detector at LEP. No evidence for these particles has been found. The results are combined with those from previous OPAL chargino and neutralino searches at lower energies to obtain limits. Exclusion regions at 95% C.L. of parameters of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model are determined. Within this framework, for , lower mass limits are placed on the lightest chargino and the three lightest neutralinos. The 95% C.L. lower mass limit on the lightest chargino, assuming that it is heavier than the lightest neutralino by more than 10 GeV, is 84.5 GeV for the case of a large universal scalar mass ( 1 TeV) and 65.7 GeV for the smallest compatible with current limits on the sneutrino mass and slepton cross-sections. The lower limit on the lightest neutralino mass at 95% C.L. for is 24.7 GeV for TeV and 13.3 GeV for the minimum scenario. These mass limits are higher for increasing values of . The interpretation of the limits in terms of gluino and scalar quark mass limits is also given. Received: 11 July 1997 / Online publication: February 26, 1998     

Search for gauge mediated SUSY breaking topologies in ee collisions at centre-of-mass energies up to 209 GeV

A total of 628 bp^-1 of data collected with the ALEPH detector at centre-of-mass energies from 189 to 209 GeV is analysed in the search for gauge mediated SUSY breaking (GMSB) topologies. These topologies include two acoplanar photons, non-pointing single photons, acoplanar leptons, large impact parameter leptons, detached slepton decay vertices, heavy stable charged sleptons and multi-leptons plus missing energy final states. No evidence is found for new phenomena, and lower limits on masses of supersymmetric particles are derived. A scan of a minimal GMSB parameter space is performed and lower limits are set for the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) mass at 54 GeV/c² and for the mass scale parameter at 10 TeV/c², independently of the NLSP lifetime. Including the results from the neutral Higgs boson searches, a NLSP mass limit of 77 GeV/c² is obtained and values of up to 16 TeV/c² are excluded. Received: 14 March 2002 / Published online: 20 September 2002     

Tau leptonic branching ratios ALEPH Collaboration

A sample of 62249 τ-pair events is selected from data taken with the ALEPH detector in 1991, 1992 and 1993. The measurement of the branching fractions for τ decays into electrons and muons is presented with emphasis on the study of systematic effects from selection, particle identification and decay classification. The results obtained are: B _e = 17.79±0.12(stat)±0.06(syst)(%) and B_μ = 17.31±0.11(stat)±0.05(syst)(%). Combined with the most recent ALEPH determination of the τ lifetime, these results provide a relative measurement of the leptonic couplings in the weak charged current for transverse W bosons: ${cal G}_{?}/{cal G}_{e}=1.0002pm 0.0051$ and ${cal G}_{?u}/{cal G}_{u}=0.9943pm 0.0065$.     

Single- and multi-photon production in ee collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ up to 209 GeV

Events containing only energetic photons are analysed in a sample of of data recorded from collisions at centre-of-mass energies between 189 and 209 GeV by the ALEPH detector at LEP. The and cross sections are measured and found to be in agreement with the standard model predictions. The number of light neutrino generations is determined to be . Upper limits are derived on the cross sections for photon production in the context of several supersymmetric models. Limits are also set on the parameters of models with extra spatial dimensions, with contact interactions and with excited electrons. Received: 27 May 2002 / Published online: 14 March 2003