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arXiv · hep-ex/9708024

Tests of the Standard Model and Constraints on New Physics from Measurements of Fermion-pair Production at 130-172 GeV at LEP

Abstract

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 γevents, 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 γ-Z interference. The energy dependence of α_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.

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The OPAL Collaboration, K. Ackerstaff et al. 1997-08-17. Tests of the Standard Model and Constraints on New Physics from Measurements of Fermion-pair Production at 130-172 GeV at LEP. https://doi.org/10.1007/s100520050152

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