0000000001184152
AUTHOR
Luigi Rolandi
Analysis of transverse momentum correlations in hadronic Z decays
In a recent paper, evidence was presented for a significant, positive correlation between the total transverse momenta of particles on opposite hemispheres of hadronic events. A new, model independent analysis of the data has been made. Two components can be distinguished in the correlation, and quantitative estimates of each are given. The results form a significant test of Monte Carlo models and some of the physics behind them. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Production of Charmed Mesons In Z Decays
The production of charmed mesons $$\mathop {D^0 }\limits^{( - )} $$ ,D ± , andD *± is studied in a sample of 478,000 hadronicZ decays. The production rates are measured to be $$\begin{gathered} \frac{{\Gamma ({\rm Z} \to D^{* \pm } X)}}{{\Gamma _{had} }} = 0.187 \pm 0.015(\exp .) \pm 0.013(BR), \hfill \\ \frac{{\Gamma ({\rm Z} \to D^ \pm X)}}{{\Gamma _{had} }} = 0.251 \pm 0.026(\exp .) \pm 0.025(BR), \hfill \\ \frac{{\Gamma ({\rm Z} \to \mathop {D^0 }\limits^{( - )} X)}}{{\Gamma _{had} }} = 0.518 \pm 0.052(\exp .) \pm 0.035(BR), \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ where the errors from this analysis are separated from those coming from theD branching ratios (BR). TheD *± momentum distribution is ex…
Study of the fragmentation of b quarks into B mesons at the Z peak
The fragmentation of b quarks into B mesons is studied with four million hadronic Z decays collected by the ALEPH experiment during the years 1991-1995. A semi-exclusive reconstruction of B->l nu D(*) decays is performed, by combining lepton candidates with fully reconstructed D(*) mesons while the neutrino energy is estimated from the missing energy of the event. The mean value of xewd, the energy of the weakly-decaying B meson normalised to the beam energy, is found to be mxewd = 0.716 +- 0.006 (stat) +- 0.006 (syst) using a model-independent method; the corresponding value for the energy of the leading B meson is mxel = 0.736 +- 0.006 (stat) +- 0.006 (syst). The reconstructed spectra …
A Precise Determination of the Number of Families With Light Neutrinos and of the Z Boson Partial Widths
Title : The socialization at work in the federal universe, the determining element of the social regulation of the sports organization. Contribution to the social politics of the sport service of Nice city Abstract : This study postulates the existence of certain specific cultural determinism in the social regulation of the sports organization. It leans on a work of inquiry which concerns 148 agents of the municipal service of the sports of the Nice city. The investigation puts in evidence a causal report between the type of trajectory of professional insertion of the municipal agents and their level of support in the manager politics of the organization. The agents, whose bibliographic rou…
Measurements of mean lifetime and branching fractions of b hadrons decaying to J/ψ
From a data sample of 450 000 hadronic events recorded with the ALEPH detector at LEP, 92 +/- 10 events are observed containing a J/psi meson decaying to mu+mu- or e+e-. From these data the measured inclusive branching fraction for a b flavoured hadron to decay to a J/psi is BR(b --> J/psiX) = (1.21 +/- 0.13 (stat.) +/- 0.08 (syst.))%, and the average b hadron lifetime in the events tagged with a J/psi is tau(b) = 1.35(-0.17)+0.19 +/- 0.05 ps. Five events are observed consistent with the exclusive decay B+/- --> J/psiK+/- and from these events the exclusive branching fraction is measured to be BR(B+/- --> J/psiK+/-) = (0.22 +/- 0.10 +/- 0.02)%. Upper limits for other exclusive branching rat…
A SEARCH FOR PAIR-PRODUCED CHARGED HIGGS BOSONS IN Z0 DECAYS
The utilitarian representation of sport in Rumania, a brake in the development of leisure practice. Since the countries of central Europe entered the liberal sphere influence, the consumptions of possessions and services develop there. We observe a movement of tutellaire and ideological emancipation of the sports organizations, but the practice of popular physical activities delays developing. If, on the ground, we notice the appearance of an structured professionally offer, contrary to all expectations, it does not pull a real increase of consumption. This situation which rises in inferred paradox a cultural interrogation on the previous history of these brakes. Historically, the sport dur…
Search for CP violation in the decay Z → τ+τ−
Data collected by ALEPH in the years 1990, 1991 and 1992 have been used to update a previous search for CP violation in the decay of the Z into tau(+)tau(-). The measurement of the weak dipole form factor of the tau lepton has been performed by studying correlations between the tau leptons. No signal of CP violation was found. The weak dipole form factor is found to be ($) over tilde d(tau) = (+0.15 +/- 0.58(stat) +/- 0.38(sys)) 10(-17)e . cm, obtained with 19628 identified tau(+)tau(-) events. This gives an upper limit on the weak dipole form factor of j\($) over tilde d(tau)\ < 1.5 . 10(-17)e . cm at the 95% confidence level.
Measurement of electroweak parameters from Z decays into fermion pairs
We report on the properties of theZ resonance from 62 500Z decays into fermion pairs collected with the ALEPH detector at LEP, the Large Electron-Positron storage ring at CERN. We findMZ=(91.193±0.016exp±0.030LEP) GeV, ΓZ=(2497±31) MeV, σhad0=(41.86±0.66)nb, and for the partial widths Γinv=(489±24) MeV, Γhad(1754±27) MeV, Γee=(85.0±1.6)MeV, Γμμ=(80.0±2.5) MeV, and Γττ=(81.3±2.5) MeV, all in good agreement with the Standard Model. Assuming lepton universality and using a lepton sample without distinction of the final state we measure Γu=(84.3±1.3) MeV. The forward-backward asymmetry in leptonic decays is used to determine the vector and axial-vector weak coupling constants of leptors,gv2(MZ2…
A study of D*+π- production in semileptonic B decay
Abstract In a sample of 1.5 million hadronic decays of the Z collected by the ALEPH detector, a search is carried out for the decays B → D 1 0 (2420)l − ν X and B → D 2 ∗0 (2460)l − ν X . The product branching ratio for D10 production is measured to be Br (b → B ) × Br( B → D 1 0 l − ν X) × Br(D 1 0 → D ∗+ π − ) = (2.04 ± 0.58 stat ± 0.34 syst ) × 10 −3 , and a 95% confidence level limit of Br(b → B ) × Br( B → D 2 ∗0 l − ν X) × Br(D 2 ∗0 → D ∗+ π − ) ≤ 0.81 × 10 −3 is obtained for D2∗0 production. A topological search sensitive to the processes above, but also to wide resonances that decay to D ∗+ π − and to non-resonant D ∗+ π − production is also carried out, yielding Br(b→ B ) ×Br( B →D…
The forward-backward asymmetry for charm quarks at the Z pole
From 1.4 million hadronic Z decays collected by the ALEPH detector at LEP, an enriched sample of Z --> c $$($) over bar c events is extracted by requiring the presence of a high momentum D*(+/-). The charm quark forward-backward charge asymmetry at the Z pole is measured to be A(FB)(0,c) = (8.0 +/- 2.4)% corresponding to an effective electroweak mixing angle of sin(2) theta(W)(eff) = 0.2302 +/- 0.0054.
A Study of Bose-Einstein Correlations In e+e- Annihilation At 91 Gev
This paper describes a study of Bose-Einstein correlations made using the ALEPH detector at LEP. The correlations are found to enhance the two particle differential cross section for pairs of identical pions by a factor which can be roughly parametrized by R(Q) = 1 + lambda exp(-Q2-sigma(2)), where Q is the difference in the 3-momenta of the two pions in their centre of mass frame, lambda = 0.51 +/- 0.04 +/- 0.11 and sigma = 3.3 +/- 0.2 +/- 0.8 GeV-1, which corresponds to a source size of 0.65 +/- 0.04 +/- 0.16 fm. The large systematic errors on these results reflect their strong dependence on the choice of the reference sample used in the analysis. This problem is believed to occur primari…
UPDATE OF ELECTROWEAK PARAMETERS FROM Z DECAYS
Based on 520000 fermion pairs accumulated during the first three years of data collection by the ALEPH detector at LEP, updated values of the resonance parameters of the Z are determined to be M(Z) = (91.187 +/- 0.009) GeV, GAMMA(Z) = (2.501 +/- 0.012) GeV, sigma(had)0 = (41.60 +/- 0.27) nb, and R(l) = 20.78 +/- 0.13. The corresponding number of light neutrino species is N(v) = 2.97 +/- 0.05. The forward-backward asymmetry in lepton-pair decays is used to determine the ratio of vector to axial-vector couplings of leptons: g(V)2(M(z)2)/g(A)2 (M(Z)2) = 0.0052 +/- 0.00 1 6. Combining this with ALEPH measurements of the b and c quark asymmetries and tau polarization gives sin2theta(W)eff = 0.23…
Search for a very light CP-odd neutral Higgs boson of the MSSM
Abstract The reactions e + e − → hZ ∗ and e + e − → hA have been used to search for the neutral Higgs bosons h and A of the MSSM in the case where the CP -odd A is lighter than 2 m μ , taking into account the large h → AA decay branching ratio. No signal was found in the data sample collected until the end of 1991 by the ALEPH experiment at LEP. For tan β ⩾, m A m μ is excluded at 95% CL for any m h .
A study of tau decays involving eta and omega mesons
The 132 pb(-1) of data collected by ALEPH from 1991 to 1994 have been used to analyze eta and omega production in 7 decays. The following branching fractions have been measured: B(tau(-) --> nu(tau)omega h(-)) = (1.91 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.06) x 10(-2), B(tau(-) --> nu(tau)omega h(-)pi(0)) = (4.3 +/- 0.6 +/- 0.5) x 10(-3), B(tau(-) --> nu(tau)eta K-) = (2.9(-1.2)(+1.3) +/- 0.7) x 10(-4), B(tau(-) --> nu(tau)eta(h)(-)pi(0)) = (1.8 +/- 0.4 +/- 0.2) x 10(-3) and the 95% C.L. limit B(tau(-) --> nu(tau)eta pi(-)) < 6.2 x 10(-4) has been obtained. The omega pi(-) and eta pi(-)pi(0) rates and dynamics are found in agreement with the predictions made from e(+)e(-) annihilation data with the help of isospi…
Observation of monojet events and tentative interpretation
Abstract A data sample corresponding to almost two million hadronic Z decays collected by the ALEPH detector at LEP has been searched for monojet events. Three events were found, in agreement with the expectation from the process e + e − → γ * v v ¯ , with γ * → f f ¯ . Two events are hadronic, the third one being an e + e − pair. All monojet masses are in excess of 3 GeV/ c 2 , and two of the event have large transverse momenta: 18.5 and 20.3 GeV/ c . These kinematic characteristics are quite unlikely in the process e + e − → γ * v v ¯ . The probability of their occurence increases substantially when processes involving further Z or W exchanges are taken into account, but still remains at …
A measurement of the b baryon lifetime
In 451 000 hadronic Z0 decays, recorded with the ALEPH detector at LEP, the yields of lambdal- and lambdal+ combinations are measured. Semileptonic decays of b baryons result in a signal of 122 +/- 18(stat.)+22/-23(syst.) lambdal- combinations. From a fit to the impact parameter distribution of the leptons in the lambdal- sample, the lifetime of b baryons is measured to be 1.12+0.32/-0.29(stat.) +/- 0.16(syst.) ps.
Search for particles with unexpected mass and charge in Z decays
During 1989 and 1990 over 180 000 hadronic and leptonic events, corresponding to 8 pb-1 of luminosity, were collected by the ALEPH detector in a scan of the Z peak at the e+e- collider LEP. This letter reports the results of a search in these data for particles with unexpected mass and charge by measurement of the ionization energy loss of charged tracks in the ALEPH TPC central tracking detector. The mass limits for the pair production of fractionally charged particles and of heavy, long lived charged particles are extended to 43 GeV/c2 at 90% confidence level. If single production of a heavy particle is considered, the mass limit is extended to more than 70 GeV/c2. RI Perrier, Frederic/A-…
MEASUREMENT OF THE TAU-POLARIZATION AT THE Z-RESONANCE
Using 18.8 pb-1 of data collected in 1990 and 1991, ALEPH has measured the tau polarisation in the decay modes tau-->enunuBAR, tau-->mununuBAR, tau-->rhonu tau-->a1nu, using both the individual tau decay kinematics and the event acollinearity. The measurement of the tau polarisation as a function of the production polar angle yields the two parameters A(tau) and A(e), where A(l) = 2g(V)l g(A)l/[(g(V)l)2 + (g(A)l)2]. The results A(tau) = 0.143 +/- 0.023 and A(e) = 0. 120 +/- 0.026 are consistent with the hypothesis of electron-tau universality. Assuming universality yields a measurement of the effective weak mixing angle sin 2theta(W)eff = 0.2332 +/- 0.0022.
Measurement of charge asymmetry in hadronic Z decays
A significant charge asymmetry is observed in the hadronic Z decays with the ALEPH detector at LEP. The asymmetry expressed in terms of the difference in momentum weighted charges in the two event hemispheres is measured to be − = −0.0084±0.0015 (stat.) ±0.0004 (exp. sys.). In the framework of the standard model this can be interpreted as a measurement of the effective electroweak mixing angle, sin2Ow (Mz2=0.2300±0.0034 (stat.) ±0.0010 (exp. sys.) ±0.0038 (theor. sys.) or of the ratio of the vector to axual- vector coupling costants of the electron, gvegAe=+0.073±0.024.
Heavy Flavor Production and Decay With Prompt Leptons In the Aleph Detector
In 431 000 hadronicZ decays recorded with the ALEPH detector at LEP, the yields of electrons and muons in events with one or more prompt leptons have been analysed to give information on the production and decay of heavy quarks. The fractions of $$b\bar b$$ and $$c\bar c$$ events are measured to be 0.219±0.006±0.005 and 0.165±0.005±0.020, and the corresponding forward-backward asymmetries at theZ mass are measured to be 0.090±0.013±0.003 and 0.111±0.021±0.018, after QED and QCD corrections. Measurements for the semileptonic branching ratios BR $$(b \to \ell ^ - \bar vX)$$ and BR (b→cl+ vX) yield 0.114±0.003±0.004 and 0.082±0.003±0.012, respectively. The dilepton events enable measurement of…
Measurement of the W mass in e+e− collisions at 183 GeV
Abstract The mass of the W boson is obtained from reconstructed invariant mass distributions in W-pair events. The sample of W pairs is selected from 57 pb−1 collected with the ALEPH detector in 1997 at a centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV. The invariant mass distributions of reweighted Monte Carlo events are fitted separately to the experimental distributions in the q q q q and all lν q q channels to give the following W masses: m W hadronic =80.461±0.177 (stat.) ±0.045 (syst.) ±0.056 (theory) GeV /c 2 , m W semileptonic =80.326±0.184 (stat.) ±0.040 (syst.) GeV /c 2 , where the theory error represents the possible effects of final state interactions. The combination of these two measurements…
MEASUREMENT OF TAU BRANCHING RATIOS
著者人数：112名
Evidence for b baryons in Z decays
Abstract In 160 000 hadronic Z decays recorded with the ALEPH detector at LEP, the yields of Λl− and Λl+ combinations have been measured. The observed excess of Λl− over Λl+ of 53±13 is interpreted as evidence for b baryons and their semileptonic decay. Assuming that three body decay processes such as Λ b →Λ c + l − v dominate the semileptonic decay of b baryons, this ex cess corresponds to a product branching ratio BR ( b →Λ b )· BR (Λ b →Λ c + l − v )· BR (Λ c + →ΛX) = (0.95±0.22 ( stat. )±0.21( syst. ))% , where Λb and Λc+ denote the bottom and charm baryons respectively.
Measurement of α from the structure of particle clusters produced in hadronic Z decays
Abstract Using 106 000 hadronic events obtained with the ALEPH detector at LEP at energies close to the Z resonance peak, the strong coupling constant αs is measured by an analysis of energy-energy correlations (EEC) and the global event shape variables thrust, C-parameter and oblateness. It is shown that the theoretical uncertainties can be significantly reduced if the final state particles are first combined in clusters using a minimum scaled invariant mass cut, Ycut, before these variables are computed. The combined result from all shape variables of pre-clustered events is αs(MZ2 = 0.117±0.005 for a renormalization scale μ= 1 2 M Z . For μ values between MZ and the b-quark mass, the res…
Measurement of the Effective b quark Fragmentation Function At the Z resonance
Using a sample of about 1.46 million hadronic Z decays collected between 1991 and 1993 with the ALEPH detector at LEP, the energy distribution of the B-0 and B-+/- mesons produced at the Z resonance is measured by reconstructing semileptonic decays B --> l nu(l)D(X) or B --> l nu(l)D*(+)(X). The charmed mesons are reconstructed through the decay modes D-0 --> K(-)pi(+), D-0, --> K(-)pi(+)pi(-)pi(+),D+ --> K(-)pi(+)pi(+), and D*(+) --> D-0 pi(+). The neutrino energy is estimated from the missing energy in the lepton hemisphere. Accounting for B* and B** production, the shape of the scaled energy distribution x(E)((b)) for mesons containing a b quark is compared to the predictions of differen…
Measurement of the b hadron lifetime with the dipole method
A measurement of the average lifetime of b hadrons has been performed with the dipole method on a sample of 260000 hadronic Z decays recorded with the ALEPH detector during 1991. The dipole is the distance between the vertices built in the opposite hemispheres. The mean dipole is extracted from all the events without attempting b enrichment. Comparing the average of the data dipole distribution with a Monte Carlo calibration curve obtained with different b lifetimes, an average b hadron lifetime of 1.51 +/- 0.08 ps is extracted. RI ANTONELLI, ANTONELLA/C-6238-2011; Buttar, Craig/D-3706-2011; Stahl, Achim/E-8846-2011; Passalacqua, Luca/F-5127-2011; Murtas, Fabrizio/B-5729-2012; St.Denis, Ric…
Study of the four-fermion final state at the Z resonance
The process e+e−→, where l is a charged or a neutral lepton and f any charged fermion, is analyzed. The study uses the ALEPH data collected at LEP from 1989 to 1993 at centre-of-mass energies between 88 and 95 GeV, corresponding to almost two million hadronic Z decays and to a total integrated luminosity of 79 pb−1. For all channels, the data agree well with the standard model expectation both in shape and normalization. The indication of an excess in the\(e^ + e^ - \to \tau ^ + \tau ^ - f\bar f\) channel, reported by ALEPH in 1991, is not confirmed.
MEASUREMENT OF THE PRODUCTION-RATES OF ETA AND ETA' IN HADRONIC-Z DECAYS
The decays eta --> gammagamma and eta' --> etapi+pi- have been observed in hadronic decays of the Z produced at LEP. The fragmentation functions of both the eta and eta' have been measured. The measured multiplicities for x > 0.1 are 0.298 +/- 0.023 +/- 0.021 and 0.068 +/- 0.018 +/- 0.016 for eta and eta' respectively. While the fragmentation function for the eta is fairly well described by the JETSET Monte Carlo, it is found that the production rate of the eta' is a factor of four less than the corresponding prediction.
Measurement of triple gauge WWγ couplings at LEP2 using photonic events
A study of events with photons and missing energy has been performed with the data sample obtained with the ALEPH detector at centre-of-mass energies from 161 to 184 GeV,corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of about 80 pb**-1.The measured distributions are in agreement with Standard Model predictions, leading to constraints on W W gamma gauge coupling parameters Delta(kappa_gamma) and lambda_gamma. The results from the fit to the cross sectionsand to the energy and angular distributions of the photons are: Delta(kappa_gamma) = 0.05 +1.15/-1.10 (stat) +/- 0.25 (syst) lambda_gamma = 0.05 +1.55/-1.45 (stat) +/- 0.30 (syst) A study of events with photons and missing energy has been pe…
Study of the subjet structure of quark and gluon jets
Measurements of the subjet structure of quark and gluon jets in hadronic Z decays are presented. The analysis is based on one million hadronic events recorded by the ALEPH detector. Roughly symmetric three-jet events are selected with a coarse jet-resolution cut-off, y(1). Gluon jets are identified with a purity of 94.6% in those events where evidence of long-lived heavy-flavour hadrons in the other two jets is found. The jets are then analyzed using a smaller cut-off y(0) (< y(1)) so that subjets are resolved. The properties of the jets (subjet multiplicities [N-q], [N-g] and rates R(n)(g(q)) for n = 1,2,3,4) are determined and are found to be in good agreement with the expectations of per…
Michel Parameters and tau neutrino Helicity From Decay Correlations In Z->tau+tau-
The Michel parameters and the average tau-neutrino helicity are measured using correlations between the decays of the tau(+) and tau(-) produced on the Z resonance and observed in the ALEPH detector at LEP. The Michel parameters, rho(e), eta(e), xi(e), (delta xi)(e), are determined from tau --> e ($) over bar upsilon(e) upsilon(tau) with e = (e, mu), and the average tau neutrino helicity, (h(upsilon(tau))), from tau --> h tau with h = (pi, rho, a(1)). The results obtained with e-mu universality are: rho(e) = 0.751 +/- 0.039 +/- 0.022, eta(e) = -0.04 +/- 0.15 +/- 0.11, xi(e) = 1.18 +/- 0.15 +/- 0.06, (delta xi)(e) = 0.88 +/- 0.11 +/- 0.07, and the average tau neutrino helicity (h(upsilon(tau…
Search for invisible Higgs boson decays in e+e- collisions at centre-of-mass energies up to 184 GeV
In a data sample of 78.3 pb(-1) collected in 1996 and 1997 by the ALEPH detector at centre-of-mass energies from 161 to 184 GeV, invisible decays of a Higgs boson have been searched for in the reaction e(+)e(-) --> hZ, where the Z can decay into e(+)e(-), mu(+) mu(-) or . No evidence for a signal is found and limits on the production cross section are derived as a function of the Higgs boson mass. These results are combined with those obtained in an update of the analyses of the ALEPH data taken at LEP 1. For a production cross section equal to that of the minimal standard model Higgs boson, masses below 80 GeV/c(2) are excluded at 95% C.L. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Updated measurement of the average b hadron lifetime
An improved measurement of the average lifetime of b hadrons has been performed with the ALEPH detector. From a sample of 260000 hadronic Z0 decays, recorded during the 1991 LEP run with the silicon vertex detector fully operational, a fit to the impact parameter distribution of lepton tracks coming from semileptonic decays yields an average b hadron lifetime of 1.49 +/- 0.03 +/- 0.06 ps.
Search for Single Top Production in $e^{+} e^{-}$ Collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ up to 209 GeV
Single top production via the flavour changing neutral current reactions e+e- -> \bar{t}c, \bar{t}u is searched for within the 214 pb-1 of data collected by ALEPH at centre-of-mass energies between 204 and 209 GeV. No deviation from the Standard Model expectation is observed and upper limits on the single top production cross sections are derived. The combination with data collected at lower centre-of-mass energies yields an upper limit on the branching ratio BR(t -> Zc)+BR(t -> Zu) 14%, for BR(t -> ��c)+BR(t -> ��u)= 0 and mt=174 GeV/c2.
Measurements of the b baryon lifetime
Using about 1.5 million hadronic Z decays recorded with the ALEPH detector, the lifetime of the b baryons has been measured using two independent data samples. From a maximum likelihood fit to the impact parameter distribution of leptons in 519 Lambda l(-) combinations containing a b baryon sample of 290 decays, the measured b baryon lifetime is tau(b-baryon) = 1.05(-0.11)(+0.12)(stat) +/-0.09(syst) ps. The lifetime of the Lambda(b)(0) baryon from a maximum likelihood fit to the proper time distribution of 58 Lambda(c)(+)l(-) candidates containing a Lambda(b)(0) sample of 44 decays, is tau(Lambda b0) = 1.02(-0.18)(+0.23)(stat) +/- 0.06(syst) ps.
Measurement of the charged particle multiplicity distribution in hadronic Z decays
The charged particle multiplicity distribution of hadronic Z decays was measured on the peak of the Z resonance using the ALEPH detector at LEP. Using a model independent unfolding procedure the distribution was found to have a mean = 20.85 +/- 0.24 and a dispersion D = 6.34 +/- 0.12. Comparison with lower energy data supports the KNO scaling hypothesis in the energy range square-root s = 29-91.25 GeV. At square-root s = 91.25 GeV the shape of the multiplicity distribution is well described by a log-normal distribution, as predicted from a cascading model for multi-particle production. The same model also successfully describes the energy dependence of the mean and width of the multiplicity…
Search for supersymmetric particles with R-parity violation in Z decays
Searches for supersymmetric particles produced in e(+)e(-) interactions at the Z peak have been performed under the assumptions that R-parity is not conserved, that the dominant R-parity violating coupling involves only leptonic fields, and that the lifetime of the lightest supersymmetric particle can be neglected. In a data sample collected by the ALEPH detector at LEP up to 1993, and corresponding to almost two million hadronic Z decays, no signal was observed. As a result, supersymmetric particle masses and couplings are at least as well constrained as under the usual assumption of R-parity conservation.