Measurement of the W mass in e+e−e^+e^- collisions at production threshold

In June 1996, the LEP centre-of-mass energy was raised to 161 GeV. Pair production of W bosons in e+e- collisions was observed for the first time by the LEP experiments. An integrated luminosity of 11 pb-1 was recorded in the ALEPH detector, in which WW candidate events were observed. In 6 events both Ws decay leptonically. In 16 events, one W decays leptonically, the other into hadrons. In the channel where both Ws decay into hadrons, a signal was separated from the large background by means of several multi-variate analyses. The W pair cross-section is measured to be sigma_WW = 4.23 +-0.73 (stat.) +- 0.19 (syst.) pb From this cross-section, the W mass is derived within the framework of the Standard Model: MW = 80.14 +- 0.34 (stat.) +- 0.09 (syst.) +- 0.03 (LEP~energy) GeV/c2

Measurement of the W mass in e+e−e^+ e^- collisions at 183 GeV

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 $qqbarqqbar$ and all l\nuqqbar channels to give the following W masses: $m_{W}^{hadronic} = 80.461 \pm 0.177(stat.) \pm 0.045(syst.) \pm 0.056(theory) GeV/c^2$, $m_{W}^{semileptonic} = 80.326 \pm 0.184(stat.) \pm 0.040(syst.) GeV/c^2$ where the theory error represents the possible effects of final state interactions. The combination of these two measurements, including the LEP energy calibration uncertainty, gives $m_{W} = 80.393 \pm 0.128(stat.)\pm 0.041(syst.) \pm 0.028(theory)\pm 0.021(LEP) GeV/c^2

Searches for Charginos and Neutralinos in e+e−e^+ e^- Collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 161 and 172 GeV

The data recorded by the ALEPH detector at centre-of-mass energies of 161, 170, and 172 GeV are analysed for signals of chargino and neutralino production. No evidence of a signal is found, although candidate events consistent with the expectations from Standard Model processes are observed. Limits at 95% C.L. on the production cross sections are derived and bounds on the parameters of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model are set. The lower limit on the mass of the lightest chargino is 85.5 GeV/c^2 for gaugino-like charginos (mu = -500 GeV/c^2), and 85.0 GeV/c^2 for Higgsino-like charginos (M_2 = 500 GeV/c^2), for heavy sneutrinos (M(snu) 200 GeV/c^2) and tanb = sqrt(2). The effect of light sleptons on chargino and neutralino limits is investigated. The assumptions of a universal slepton mass and a universal gaugino mass are relaxed, allowing less model-dependent limits to be obtained

Searches for Charginos and Neutralinos in e+e−e^+ e^- Collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 161 and 172 GeV

The data recorded by the ALEPH detector at centre-of-mass energies of 161, 170, and 172 GeV are analysed for signals of chargino and neutralino production. No evidence of a signal is found, although candidate events consistent with the expectations from Standard Model processes are observed. Limits at 95% C.L. on the production cross sections are derived and bounds on the parameters of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model are set. The lower limit on the mass of the lightest chargino is 85.5 GeV/c^2 for gaugino-like charginos (mu = -500 GeV/c^2), and 85.0 GeV/c^2 for Higgsino-like charginos (M_2 = 500 GeV/c^2), for heavy sneutrinos (M(snu) 200 GeV/c^2) and tanb = sqrt(2). The effect of light sleptons on chargino and neutralino limits is investigated. The assumptions of a universal slepton mass and a universal gaugino mass are relaxed, allowing less model-dependent limits to be obtained