Strong Interaction Effects in Scalar Top Production

We discuss effects of fragmentation and hard gluon radiation on the signal for the pair production of the lighter scalar top eigenstate $\tilde{t}_1$ at e^+e^- colliders. The main emphasis is on scenarios with small stop--LSP mass splitting, where strong interaction effects can considerably modify kinematical properties of the final state.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, uses sprocl.sty. Proceedings of the LCWS99, International Workshop on Linear Colliders, Sitges, Spain (May 1999) and Particles in Astrophysics and Cosmology: From Theory to Observation, Valencia, Spain (May 1999

QCD corrections to e+ e- --> 4 jets

We report on the next-to-leading order QCD calculation for e+ e- --> 4 jets. We explain some modern techniques which have been used to calculate the one-loop amplitudes efficiently. We further report on the general purpose numerical program ``Mercutio'', which can be used to calculate any infrared safe four-jet quantity in electron-positron annihilation at next-to-leading order.Comment: 4 pages, talk given at the UK Phenomenology Workshop on Collider Physics, Durham, 19-24 September 199

Measurements of the QCD Colour Factors at LEP

A summary of the measurements of the QCD colour factors at LEP is presented. Such measurements provide a test of the gauge group structure underlying the theory of strong interactions. A variety of methods have been applied by the various experiments, and perfect consistency with the expectation of QCD with SU(3) as gauge group is found.Comment: 9 pages, Latex, Talk presented at the 5th Topical Seminar on The Irresistible Rise of the Standard Model, San Miniato, Italy, April 199

Experimental Summary on Hadronic Decays: A TAU98 Review

Selected results on hadronic decays of the tau lepton from the TAU98 Workshop are reviewed. A comprehensive picture emerges for strange particle branching fractions, and exploration of resonant substructure of both strange and non-strange decays is seen to have matured substantially.Comment: 10 pages, postscript file also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

Non-perturbative effective model for the Higgs sector of the Standard Model

A non-perturbative effective model is derived for the Higgs sector of the standard model, described by a simple scalar theory. The renormalized couplings are determined by the derivatives of the Gaussian Effective Potential that are known to be the sum of infinite bubble graphs contributing to the vertex functions. A good agreement has been found with strong coupling lattice simulations when a comparison can be made

Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson at LEP

One of the missions of the LEP program was the search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson. The skillful operation of the machine in the year 2000, the final year of operation, has allowed the four collaborations ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL to collect 536/pb of data at center-of-mass energies of 206 GeV or higher. This data is used to probe the existence of the Higgs boson up to a mass of around 115 GeV. Tantalizing candidates have been observed in excess over the Standard Model predictions, but without enough statistical power to claim a discovery. A Higgs boson lighter than 114.4 GeV is hence excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, to be published in the proceedings of the "5th International Conference on Hyperons, Charm and Beauty Hadrons

tau- -> K+ K- pi- nu_tau at CLEO III

Based on 3.26 fb$^{-1}$ data sample collected at CLEO III, we study the decay $\tau^-\to K^+K^-\pi^-\nu_\tau$, and improve the measurement of the branching ratio ${\cal B}(\tau^-\to K^+K^-\pi^-\nu_\tau)= (1.59\pm0.06\pm0.13)\times10^{-3}$, the results are preliminary.Comment: Talk at the 7th International Workshop on Tau Lepton Physics (TAU02), Santa Cruz, Ca, USA, Sept. 10-13, 2002, 3 pages, LaTex, espcrc2.sty, two eps figure

Minimal Hadronic Ansatz to Large-Nc QCD and Hadronic tau Decay

I report on some recent work done in collaboration with Santi Peris and Boris Phily (hep-ph/0007338) where, using the Aleph data on vector and axial-vector spectral functions, we test simple duality properties of QCD in the large-Nc limit which emerge in the approximation of a {\it minimal hadronic ansatz} of a spectrum of narrow states. These duality properties relate the short- and long-distance behaviours of specific correlation functions, which are order parameters of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, in a way that we find well supported by the data.Comment: 7 pages with 3 figures. Latex file. Contribution to the Euroconference QCD00, Montpellier, Franc

Long distance contribution to B−→K−K−π+B^- \to K^- K^- \pi^+, - a searching ground mode for new physics

The decay $B^- \to K^- K^- \pi^+$ has been sugested as a test for minimal supersymmetric standard model and for supersymmetric models with R-parity violating couplings, in view of its extreme smallnesss in the standard model. We calculate two long distance contributions to this decay, that associated with $DD$ and $D\pi$ intermediate states and that induced by virtual $D$, $\pi$ mesons. The branching ratio due to these contributions is $6 \times 10^{-12}$, which is somewhat smaller than the standard model short distance result, leaving this decay free for the search of new physics.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, revised versio