A search for pair-produced charged Higgs bosons in Z0 decays

A search for pair-produced charged Higgs bosons in decays of the Z0 has been performed using the ALEPH detector at LEP for the decay channels . Searches for two additional decay channels in which cs is replaced by cb were also performed. With 1.17 pb−1 of integrated luminosity, corresponding to about 25 000 hadronic decays of the Z0, the charged Higgs has been excluded at 95% CL in the mass range 7.6 to 43.0 GeV for BR[H± → ντ] = 100%, 8.3 to 40.6 GeV for BR[H±→ντ] = BR[H±→cs] = 50%, and 14.4 to 35.4 GeV for BR[H±→cs] = 100% . With cs replaced by cb, the charged Higgs has been excluded at 95% CL in the mass range 12.0 to 40.7 GeV for BR[H±→ντ] = BR[H±→cb] = 50%, and 16.2 to 35.7 GeV for BR[H±→cb] = 100%

Measurement of alpha-s from the structure of particle clusters produced in hadronic Z decays

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 . For μ values between MZ and the b-quark mass, the result changes by −0.009+0.006

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 260 000 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

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 sin^2(theta(W))eff = 0.2326 +/- 0.0013. Assuming the minimal Standard Model, and including measurements of M(W)/M(Z) from p(p)over bar colliders and neutrino-nucleon scattering, the mass of the top quark is M(top)=156 +/-22/25 +/-17/22 Higgs GeV

Searches for new particles in Z decays using the ALEPH detector

During 1989 and 1990 over 200 000 hadronic and leptonic events, corresponding to about 8.5 pb−1 of data, were collected in a scan of the Z peak using the ALEPH detector at the e+e− collider, LEP. These data, at the highest centre-of-mass energy available to date in e+e− collisions, have allowed a broad range of searches for new particles and new phenomena to be performed in a mass range significantly higher than previously attainable. The searches performed by ALEPH for Higgs bosons, supersymmetric particles and leptoquarks, and for evidence of compositeness are reviewed. No positive signals have been observed but a comprehensive set of mass and coupling limits is presented. Branching ratio limits are given for a number of “rare” Z decays

A Precise measurement of the tau lepton lifetime

Three different techniques are used to measure the mean decay length of the τ lepton with a high precision vertex detector in a sample of 11 800 τ pairs coming from Z decays, collected in1991 by ALEPH at LEP. Events in which both τ's decay into one charged track are analyzed using two largely independent methods. Displaced vertices in three-prong decays yield another independent measurement. The derived lifetime is 295.5 ± 5.9 ± 3.1 fs, using mτ = 1777.1 ± 0.5 MeV/c2. Including previous (1989–1990) ALEPH measurements, the combined τ lifetime is 294.7 ± 5.4 ± 3.0 fs