Measurement of the mass and width of the W boson

The mass and width of the W boson are measured using e⁺e^– → W⁺W^– events from the data sample collected by the OPAL experiment at LEP at centre-of-mass energies between 170 GeV and 209 GeV. The mass (m_W) and width (Γ_W) are determined using direct reconstruction of the kinematics of W⁺W^– → and W⁺W^– → events. When combined with previous OPAL measurements using W⁺W^– → events and the dependence on of the WW production cross-section at threshold, the results are determined to be

Determining the stau trilinear coupling $A_\tau$in supersymmetric Higgs decays

The measurement of the trilinear couplings A in the part of the Lagrangian which breaks supersymmetry softly will be a difficult experimental task. In this report the heavy Higgs decays to stau pairs are investigated for measuring the stau trilinear coupling . Based on detailed simulations of signal and backgrounds for a specific reference point in future high luminosity e ⁺ e^- linear collider experiments, it is concluded that the parameter can be determined with a precision at the 10% level in the region of moderate to large . Received: 2 August 2005, Published online: 13 September 2005     

Search for chargino and neutralino productionat $\sqrt{s} = 192$-209 GeV at LEP

Approximately 438 pb^-1 of e ⁺ e^- data from the OPAL detector, taken with the LEP collider running at centre-of-mass energies of 192-209 GeV, are analyzed to search for evidence of chargino pair production, , or neutralino associated production, . Limits are set at the 95% confidence level on the product of the cross-section for the process and its branching ratios to topologies containing jets and missing energy, or jets with a lepton and missing energy, and on the product of the cross-section for and its branching ratio to jets. R-parity conservation is assumed throughout this paper. When these results are interpreted in the context of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, limits are also set on the masses of the and , and regions of the parameter space of the model are ruled out. Nearly model-independent limits are also set at the 95% confidence level on with the assumption that each chargino decays via a W boson, and on with the assumed to decay via a Z⁰.Received: 15 December 2003, Revised: 16 February 2004, Published online: 23 April 2004     

Determination of heavy quark non-perturbative parametersfrom spectral moments in semileptonic B decays

Moments of the hadronic invariant mass and of the lepton energy spectra in semileptonic B decays have been determined with the data recorded by the DELPHI detector at LEP. From measurements of the inclusive b-hadron semileptonic decays, and imposing constraints from other measurements on b- and c-quark masses, the first three moments of the lepton energy distribution and of the hadronic mass distribution, have been used to determine parameters which enter into the extraction of |V_cb| from the measurement of the inclusive b-hadron semileptonic decay width. The values obtained in the kinetic scheme are: and include corrections at order 1/m_b³. Using these results, and present measurements of the inclusive semileptonic decay partial width of b-hadrons at LEP, an accurate determination of |V_cb| is obtained: Received: 26 April 2005, Revised: 16 September 2005, Published online: 16 November 2005     

Search for anomalous weak dipole moments of the $\tau$ lepton

The anomalous weak dipole moments of the lepton are measured in a data sample collected by ALEPH from 1990 to 1995 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 155 pb^-1. Tau leptons produced in the reaction at energies close to the mass are studied using their semileptonic decays to , , or . The real and imaginary components of both the anomalous weak magnetic dipole moment and the CP-violating anomalous weak electric dipole moment, , , and , are measured simultaneously by means of a likelihood fit built from the full differential cross section. No evidence of new physics is found. The following bounds are obtained (95% CL): , , , and .Received: 25 September 2002, Published online: 29 August 2003     

Flavour-independent h<Superscript>0</Superscript>A<Superscript>0</Superscript> search and two Higgs doublet model interpretation of neutral Higgs boson searches at LEP

Upper limits on the cross-section of the pair-production process , assuming 100 branching fraction to hadrons, are derived from a new search for the hadrons final state, independently of the hadronic flavour of the decay products. This study, combined with previously published searches for the neutral Higgs bosons h⁰ and A⁰, is used to constrain the Type II Two Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM(II)) with no CP violation in the Higgs sector and no additional non-Standard Model particles besides the five Higgs bosons. The analysis combines LEP1 and LEP2 data collected with the OPAL detector up to the highest available centre-of-mass energies. The searches are sensitive to the and decay modes of the Higgs bosons. A benchmark scan of the 2HDM(II) parameter space is performed. Large regions of the 2HDM(II) parameter space explored are excluded at the 95% CL in the ( and planes, using both direct neutral Higgs boson searches and indirect limits derived from Standard Model high precision measurements. The region GeV and GeV is excluded at 95 % CL, independently of and for selected values of which are representative of a complete -scan.Received: 28 July 2004, Revised: 4 January 2005, Published online: 3 March 2005     

One-loop electroweak factorizable correctionsfor the Higgsstrahlung at a linear collider

We present standard model predictions for the four-fermion reaction being one of the best detection channels of a low-mass Higgs boson produced through the Higgsstrahlung mechanism at a linear collider. We include leading virtual and real QED corrections due to initial state radiation and a modification of the Higgs- Yukawa coupling, caused by the running of the b-quark mass, for . The complete electroweak corrections to Z-Higgs production and to the Z-boson decay width, as well as the remaining QCD and EW corrections to the Higgs decay width, as can be calculated with the program HDECAY, are taken into account in the double-pole approximation. Received: 17 March 2005, Revised: 30 March 2005, Published online: 30 August 2005 Work supported in part by the Polish State Committee for Scientific Research in years 2004-2006 as a research grant, by the European Community's Human Potential Program under contracts HPRN-CT-2000-00149 Physics at Colliders and CT-2002-00311 EURIDICE, and by DFG under Contract SFB/TR 9-03.     

Updated estimate of the muon magnetic momentusing revised results from <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript> + </Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>-</Superscript>annihilation

A new evaluation of the hadronic vacuum polarization contribution to the muon magnetic moment is presented. We take into account the reanalysis of the low-energy e ⁺ e ^-annihilation cross section into hadrons by the CMD-2 Collaboration. The agreement between e ⁺ e ^-and spectral functions in the channel is found to be much improved. Nevertheless, significant discrepancies remain in the center-of-mass energy range between 0.85 and , so that we refrain from averaging the two data sets. The values found for the lowest-order hadronic vacuum polarization contributions are where the errors have been separated according to their sources: experimental, missing radiative corrections in e ⁺ e ^-data, and isospin breaking. The corresponding Standard Model predictions for the muon magnetic anomaly read where the errors account for the hadronic, light-by-light (LBL) scattering and electroweak contributions. The deviations from the measurement at BNL are found to be (1.9 ) and (0.7 ) for the e ⁺ e ^-- and -based estimates, respectively, where the second error is from the LBL contribution and the third one from the BNL measurement.Received: 7 September 2003, Published online: 30 October 2003     

A precise measurement of the tau lifetime

The tau lepton lifetime has been measured with the events collected by the DELPHI detector at LEP in the years 1991-1995. Three different methods have been exploited, using both one-prong and three-prong decay channels. Two measurements have been made using events in which both taus decay to a single charged particle. Combining these measurements gave . A third measurement using taus which decayed to three charged particles yielded These were combined with previous DELPHI results to measure the tau lifetime, using the full LEP1 data sample, to be .Received: 12 November 2003, Revised: 1 June 2004, Published online: 20 July 2004     

CP-sensitive observables in chargino production with transverse $e^{\pm}$ beam polarization

We consider the process at a linear collider with transverse beam polarization. We investigate the influence of the CP phases on azimuthal asymmetries in with subsequent two-body decays and . We show that triple product correlations involving the transverse beam polarization vanish if at least one subsequent chargino decay is not observed. We derive this result within the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) with complex parameters; however, it holds also in the general MSSM with SUSY flavor violation.Received: 29 March 2004, Published online: 30 July 2004     

Associated charged Higgs and $W$ boson production in the MSSM at the CERN large hadron collider

We investigate the viability of observing charged Higgs bosons () produced in association with bosons at the CERN large hadron collider, using the leptonic decay and hadronic decay, within different scenarios of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) with both real and complex parameters. Performing a parton level study we show how the irreducible standard model background from jets can be controlled by applying appropriate cuts and find that the size of a possible signal depends on the cuts needed to suppress QCD backgrounds and misidentifications. In the standard maximal mixing scenario of the MSSM we find a viable signal for large and intermediate masses () when using softer cuts (,  50 GeV), whereas for harder cuts (, 100 GeV) we only find a viable signal for very large (). We have also investigated a special class of MSSM scenarios with large mass splittings among the heavy Higgs bosons where the cross-section can be resonantly enhanced by factors up to one hundred, with a strong dependence on the -violating phases. Even so we find that the signal after cuts remains small except for small masses () when using the softer cuts. Finally, in all the scenarios we have investigated we have only found small -asymmetries.     

Strongest gravitational waves from neutrino oscillationsat supernova core bounce

Resonant active-to-active ( ), as well as active-to-sterile ( ) neutrino ( ) oscillations can take place during the core bounce of a supernova collapse. Besides, over this phase, weak magnetism increases the antineutrino ( ) mean free path, and thus its luminosity. Because the oscillation feeds mass-energy into the target species, the large mass-squared difference between the species ( ) implies a huge amount of energy to be given off as gravitational waves ( erg s^-1), due to anisotropic but coherent flow over the oscillation length. This asymmetric -flux is driven by both the spin-magnetic and the universal spin-rotation coupling. The novel contribution of this paper stems from (1) the new computation of the anisotropy parameter -0.01, and (2) the use of the tight constraints from neutrino experiments as SNO and KamLAND, and the cosmic probe WMAP, to compute the gravitational-wave emission during neutrino oscillations in supernovae core collapse and bounce. We show that the mass of the sterile neutrino that can be resonantly produced during the flavor conversions makes it a good candidate for dark matter as suggested by Fuller et al. , Phys. Rev. D 68, 103002 (2003). The new spacetime strain thus estimated is still several orders of magnitude larger than those from diffusion (convection and cooling) or quadrupole moments of neutron star matter. This new feature turns these bursts into the more promising supernova gravitational-wave signals that may be detected by observatories as LIGO, VIRGO, etc., for distances far out to the VIRGO cluster of galaxies.Received: 26 November 2003, Revised: 26 February 2004, Published online: 3 June 2004     

Search for stable hadronizing squarks and gluinosin e + e- collisions up to \sqrt{s} = 209 GeV

Searches for stable, hadronizing scalar quarks and gluinos are performed using the data collected with the ALEPH detector at LEP. Gluon splitting into a gluino or a squark pair is searched for at centre-of-mass energies around the Z resonance, in the e ⁺ e^- and processes. Stable squark pair production, and stop pair production with subsequent decays into a stable gluino, , are also directly searched for at centre-of-mass energies from 183 to 209 GeV. Altogether, stable hadronizing stop (sbottom) quarks are excluded up to masses of 95 (92) , and stable hadronizing gluinos are excluded up to 26.9 , at 95% confidence level. In the framework of R-parity-conserving supersymmetric models in which the gluino and the stop quark are the two lightest supersymmetric particles, a 95% C.L. lower limit of 80 is set on the stop quark mass.Received: 23 May 2003, Published online: 24 October 2003     

Topos-Theoretic Extension of a Modal Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

This paper deals with topos-theoretic truth-value valuations of quantum propositions. Concretely, a mathematical framework of a specific type of modal approach is extended to the topos theory, and further, structures of the obtained truth-value valuations are investigated. What is taken up is the modal approach based on a determinate lattice , which is a sublattice of the lattice of all quantum propositions and is determined by a quantum state e and a preferred determinate observable R. Topos-theoretic extension is made in the functor category of which base category is determined by R. Each true atom, which determines truth values, true or false, of all propositions in , generates also a multi-valued valuation function of which domain and range are and a Heyting algebra given by the subobject classifier in , respectively. All true propositions in are assigned the top element of the Heyting algebra by the valuation function. False propositions including the null proposition are, however, assigned values larger than the bottom element. This defect can be removed by use of a subobject semi-classifier. Furthermore, in order to treat all possible determinate observables in a unified framework, another valuations are constructed in the functor category . Here, the base category includes all ’s as subcategories. Although has a structure apparently different from , a subobject semi-classifier of gives valuations completely equivalent to those in ’s.     

Measurements of charged kaon semileptonic decay branching fractions K±→π0μ±ν and K±→π0e±ν and their ratio

Measured ratios of decay rates for , and are presented. These measurements are based on K^± decays collected in a dedicated run in 2003 by the NA48/2 experiment at CERN. The results obtained are and . Using the PDG average for the K^±→π^±π⁰ normalisation mode, both values are found to be larger than the current values given by the particle data book and lead to a larger magnitude of the |V_us| CKM element than previously accepted. When combined with the latest particle data book value of |V_ud|, the result is in agreement with unitarity of the CKM matrix. In addition, a new measured value of is compared to the semi-empirical predictions based on the latest form factor measurements. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Hyperfine structure and isotope shifts in near-infrared transitions of atomic nitrogen

We have obtained Doppler-free spectra of transitions in the → 2p²(³P) and → multiplets of atomic nitrogen using saturated absorption spectroscopy. These multiplets consist of respectively of seven and eight transitions, and have center of gravity wavelengths of 821 nm and 869 nm. Values for the hyperfine structure coupling constants of all the upper and lower states for these multiplets were obtained for both ¹⁴N and ¹⁵N. Isotope shifts of three transitions in each multiplet were also measured, and a significant J-dependence to the shifts was observed.     

Search for charged Higgs bosons at LEP in general two Higgs doublet models

A search for pair-produced charged Higgs bosons was performed in the data collected by the DELPHI detector at LEP II at centre-of-mass energies from 189 GeV to 209 GeV. Five different final states, , , , and were considered, accounting for the major expected decays in type I and type II Two Higgs Doublet Models. No significant excess of data compared to the expected Standard Model processes was observed. The existence of a charged Higgs boson with mass lower than 76.7 GeV/c² (type I) or 74.4 GeV/c² (type II) is excluded at the 95% confidence level, for a wide range of the model parameters. Model independent cross-section limits have also been calculated.Received: 30 September 2003, Revised: 12 February 2004, Published online: 8 April 2004     

Detecting metastable staus and gravitinos at the ILC

A study of various SUSY scenarios is presented in which the lightest supersymmetric particle is the gravitino and the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle is a scalar tau with lifetimes ranging from seconds to years. Gravitinos are interesting dark matter candidates which can be produced in decays of heavier sparticles at the International Linear Collider (ILC), but remain undetected in direct searches of astrophysical experiments. We investigate the detection and measurement of metastable staus, which may be copiously produced at the ILC either directly or via cascade decays. A proper choice of the experimental conditions will allow one to collect large samples of s coming to rest in the calorimeters of the ILC detector and to study the subsequent decays . Detailed simulations show that the properties of the stau and the gravitino, such as mass and lifetime and mass, can be accurately determined at a future ILC and may provide direct access to the gravitational coupling, respectively Planck scale.     

Determination of the η and η<Superscript>′</Superscript> mixing angle from the pseudoscalar transition form factors

The possible range of the η– mixing angle is determined from the transition form factors F_ηγ(Q²) and with the help of up-to-date experimental data. For this purpose, the quark-flavor mixing scheme is adopted and the pseudoscalar transition form factors are calculated in the framework of light-cone pQCD, in which the transverse-momentum corrections and the contributions beyond the leading Fock state have been carefully taken into consideration. We construct a phenomenological expression to estimate the contributions to the form factors beyond the leading Fock state, based on their asymptotic behavior at Q²→0 and . By taking the quark-flavor mixing scheme, our results lead to , where the first error comes from the experimental uncertainty and the second error from the uncertainties of the parameters of the wavefunction. The possible intrinsic charm component in η and is discussed, and our present analysis also disfavors a large intrinsic charm component in η and , e.g. . PACS 13.40.Gp; 12.38.Bx; 14.40.Aq