Charged particle momentum spectra in ee annihilation at $sqrt{s} = 192$-209 GeV

Charged particle momentum distributions are studied in the reaction hadrons, using data collected with the OPAL detector at centre-of-mass energies from 192 GeV to 209 GeV. The data correspond to an average centre-of-mass energy of 201.7 GeV and a total integrated luminosity of 433 pb^-1. The measured distributions and derived quantities, in combination with corresponding results obtained at lower centre-of-mass energies, are compared to QCD predictions in various theoretical approaches to study the energy dependence of the strong interaction and to test QCD as the theory describing it. In general, a good agreement is found between the measurements and the corresponding QCD predictions. Received: 17 July 2002 / Published online: 3 March 2003