0000000000134961

AUTHOR

M. Gibbs

Updated precision measurement of the average lifetime of B hadrons

The measurement of the average lifetime of B hadrons using inclusively reconstructed secondary vertices has been updated using both an improved processing of previous data and additional statistics from new data. This has reduced the statistical and systematic uncertainties and gives \tau_{\mathrm{B}} = 1.582 \pm 0.011\ \mathrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.027\ \mathrm{(syst.)}\ \mathrm{ps.} Combining this result with the previous result based on charged particle impact parameter distributions yields \tau_{\mathrm{B}} = 1.575 \pm 0.010\ \mathrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.026\ \mathrm{(syst.)}\ \mathrm{ps.}

research product

Performance of the DELPHI detector

DELPHI (DEtector with Lepton, Photon and Hadron Identification) is a detector for e(+)e(-) physics, designed to provide high granularity over a 4 pi solid angle, allowing an effective particle identification, It has been operating at the LEP (Large Electron-Positron) collider at CERN since 1989. This article reviews its performance.

research product

Search for exclusive decays of the Lambda_b baryon and measurement of its mass

A search for fully reconstructed \lb beauty baryons is performed using about 3 million Z decays collected with the DELPHI detector at LEP. The analysis relies on the combined use of the accurate tracking and of the hadron identification capabilities of DELPHI. A total of four events has been found, three in the \lc\ppm channel and one in the \lc\a1m channel over a small background. The \lb beauty baryon mass is measured to be (~ 5668 \pm 16~ ({\rm stat.}) \pm 8~({\rm syst.})~)~ \mv.

research product

Search for exclusive charmless b meson decays with the Delphi detector at Lep

Charmless hadronic decays of beauty mesons have been searched for using the data collected with the DELPHI detector at the LEP collider. Several two, three and four-body decay modes have been investigated. Particle identification was used to distinguish the final states with protons, kaons and pions. Three candidate events selected in two-body decay modes are interpreted as evidence for charmless B decays. No excess has been found in higher multiplicity modes and improved upper limits for some of the branching ratios are given. © 1995.

research product

Measurement of inclusive K*(0)(892), phi(1020) and K-2*(0)(1430) production in hadronic Z decays

The inclusive production of the neutral vector mesons K-*0(892) and phi(1020), and of the tensor meson K-2(*0)(1430), in hadronic decays of the Z has been mea sured by the DELPHI detector at LEP. The average production rates per hadronic Z decay have been determined to be 0.77 +/- 0.08 K-2(*0)(892), 0.104 +/- 0.008 phi(1020) and 0.079 +/- 0.040 K-2(*0)(1430). The ratio of the tensor-to-vector meson production yields, [K-2(*0)(1430)]/[K-*0(892)] = 0.10 +/- 0.05, is smaller than the [f(2)(1270)]/[rho(0)(770)] and [f'(2)(1525)]/[phi(1020)] ratios measured by DELPHI. The production rates and differential cross sections are compared with the predictions of JETSET 7.4 tuned to the DELPHI data and…

research product

First measurement of f′2 (1525) production in Z0 hadronic decays

The inclusive production of the f(2)'(1525) in hadronic Z(0) decays has been studied in data collected by the DELPHI detector at LEP. The Ring Imaging Cherenkov detectors were important tools in the identification of the decay f(2)'(1525) --> K+K-. The average number of f(2)(')(1525) produced per hadronic Z decay, [f(2)'] = 0.020 +/- 0.005 (stat) +/- 0.006 (syst), and the momentum distribution of the f(2)'(1525) have both been measured. The mass and width of the f(2)'(1525) are found to be [M(f2)'] = 1535 +/- 5 (stat) +/- 4 (syst) MeV/c(2). [Gamma(f2)'] = 60 +/- 20 (stat) +/- 19 (syst) MeV/c(2)

research product

Lifetime of Charged and Neutral B-hadrons Using Event Topology

The lifetimes of charged and neutral B hadrons have been measured using data collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP between 1991 and 1993. B hadrons are tagged as jets with a secondary vertex and the charge of the B candidate is taken to be the sum of the charges of the particles in the secondary vertex. Approximately 1,434,000 multihadronic \PZz decays yielded 1817 B hadron candidates. The B purity was estimated to be around 99.1\pm0.3\%, and 83\% (70\%) of the events measured as neutral (charged) came from neutral (charged) B's. The mean lifetimes of charged and neutral B hadrons were found to be \TAUBC\pm\ERRBC\;(stat.)\pm\SYSBC\;(syst.)~ps and \TAUBN\pm\ERRBN\;(stat.)\pm\SYSBN\;(syst…

research product

Search for promptly produced heavy quarkonium states in hadronic Z decays

A search has been made for direct production of heavy quarkonium states in more than 3 million hadronic Z^{0} decays in the 1991-1994 DELPHI data. Prompt J/\psi, \psi(2S) and \Upsilon candidates have been searched for through their leptonic decay modes using criteria based on the kinematics and decay vertex positions. New upper limits are set at the 90 \% confidence level for {Br( Z^0 \rightarrow \left( Q \bar{Q} \right) X ) / Br( Z^0 \rightarrow \mbox{hadrons})} for various strong production mechanisms of J/\psi and \Upsilon; these range down to 0.9 \times 10^{-4}. The limits are set in the presence of a small excess (\sim 1 \% statistical probability of a background fluctuation) in the su…

research product

A Precise Measurement of the Tau Lepton Lifetime

The tau lepton lifetime has been measured using three different methods with the DELPHI detector. Two measurements of one-prong decays are combined, accounting for correlations, giving a result of \tau_\tau = 291.8 \pm 3.3 \mbox{ (stat.)} \pm 2.0 \mbox{(sys.) fs} while the decay length distribution of three-prong decays gives the result \tau_{\tau} = 286.7 \pm 4.9 \mbox{ (stat.)} \pm 3.3 \mbox{ (sys.) fs}. Combining the results presented here with previous DELPHI measurements, we get \tau_{\tau} = 291.4 \pm 3.0 fs and find that the ratio of the coupling constant for tau decay relative to that for muon decay is 0.990 \pm 0.009, compatible with lepton universality.

research product

A measurement of the \(\tau\) leptonic branching fractions

Abstract: A sample of 25000 Z(0) --> tau(-)tau(+) events collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP in 1991 and 1992 is used to measure the leptonic branching fractions of the tau lepton. The results are B(tau --> e nu) = (17.51+/-0.39)% and B(tau --> mu nu) = (17.02+/-0.31)%. The ratio of the muon and electron couplings to the weak charged current is measured to be g(mu)/g(e) = 1.000+/-0.013, satisfying e-mu universality. The average leptonic branching fraction corrected to the value for a massless lepton, assuming e-mu universality, is found to be B(tau --> l nu) = (17.50+/-0.25)%.

research product

Measurement of $\Delta^{++}$(1232) production in hadronic Z decays

A measurement of the \Delta^{++}(1232) inclusive production in hadronic decays of the Z at LEP is presented, based on 1.3 million hadronic events collected~ by the DELPHI~ detector in the 1994 LEP running~ period. The DELPHI ring imaging Cherenkov counters are used for identifying hadrons. The average \Delta^{++}(1232) multiplicity per hadronic event is 0.079 \pm 0.015 which is more than a factor of two below the JETSET, HERWIG and UCLA model predictions. It agrees with a recently proposed universal mass dependence of particle production rates in e^{+}e^- annihilations.

research product

Energy dependence of the differences between the quark and gluon jet fragmentation

Three jet events arising from decays of the Z beson, collected by the DELPHI detector, were used to measure differences in quark and gluon fragmentation. Gluon jets were anti-tagged by identifying b quark jets. Unbiased quark jets came from events with two jets plus one photon. Quark and gluon jet properties in different energy ranges were compared for the first time within the same detector. Quark and gluon jets of nearly the same energy in symmetric three jet event topologies were also compared. Using three independent methods, the average value of the ratio of the mean charged multiplicities of gluon and quark jets is [ r ] = 1.241 +/- 0.015 (stat.) +/- 0.025 (syst.). Gluon jets are broa…

research product

Lifetime and production rate of beauty baryons from Z decays

The production and decay of beauty baryons (b-baryons) have been studied using 1.7 \times 10^6 Z hadronic decays collected by the DELPHI detector at LEP. Three different techniques were used to identify the b-baryons. The first method used pairs of a \Lambda and a lepton to tag the b-baryon decay. The second method associated fully reconstructed \Lambda_c baryons with leptons. The third analysis reconstructed the b-baryon decay points by forming secondary vertices from identified protons and muons of opposite sign. Using these methods the following production rates were measured: \begin{eqnarray*} f(\qb \ra \Bb) \times \BR(\Bb \ra \mLs \ell\bar{\nu}_{\ell}\X) & = & (0.30 \pm 0.06 \pm0.04)\%…

research product

A measurement of the photon structure function F-2(gamma) at an average Q(2) of 12 GeV2/c(4)

The hadronic photon structure function F_{2}^{gamma} has been measured in the Q^{2} range from 4 to 30~GeV^2/c^{4} and down to x values of order 0.001, using data taken with the DELPHI detector at LEP between 1991 and 1993. A comparison is made with several F_{2}^{gamma} parameterizations with special emphasis on their low x behaviour. A result on the Q^{2} evolution of F_{2}^{gamma} is presented.

research product