MEASUREMENT OF THE FORWARD-BACKWARD ASYMMETRY OF CHARM AND BOTTOM QUARKS AT THE Z-POLE USING D-ASTERISK(+/-)-MESONS

The forward-backward asymmetries for the processes $$e^ + e^ - \to c\bar c$$ and $$e^ + e^ - \to b\bar b$$ at theZ resonance are measured using identifiedD *± mesons. In 905,000 selected hadronic events, taken in 1991 and 1992 with the DEL-PHI detector at LEP, 4757D *+→D 0π+ decays are reconstructed. Thec andb quark forward-backward asymmetries are determined to be: $$\begin{gathered} A_{FB}^{c\bar c} = 0.077 \pm 0.029(stat) \pm 0.012(sys), \hfill \\ A_{FB}^{b\bar b} = 0.059 \pm 0.062(stat) \pm 0.024(sys). \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ Constraining theb asymmetry to the value measured by DELPHI using independent analyses, the charm asymmetry is determined to be: $$A_{FB}^{c,const} = 0.068 \pm…