D. Fong

Physics with high energy electron-positron colliding beams with the MARK J detector

Abstract This report reviews the experimental investigation of high energy e + e − interactions by the MARK J collaboration at PETRA, the electron-positron colliding beam accelerator at DESY in Hamburg, Germany. The physics objectives include studies of several purely electromagnetic processes and hadronic final states, which further our knowledge of the nature of the fundamental constituents and of their strong, electromagnetic and weak interactions. Before discussing the physics results, the main features and the principal components of the MARK J detector are discussed in terms of design, function, and performance. Several aspects of the on-line data collection and the off-line analysis are also outlined. Results are presented on tests of quantum electrodynamics using e + e − → e + e − , μ + μ − and τ + τ − , on the measurement of R , the ratio of the hadronic to the point-like muon pair cross section, on the search for new quark flavors, on the discovery of three jet events arising from the radiation of hard noncollinear gluons as predicted by quantum chromodynamics, and on the determination of the strong coupling constant α s .

Tests of quantum chromodynamics and a direct measurement of the strong coupling constant αs at √s=30 GeV

Abstract We report the measurement of the reaction e+ + e− → hadronic jets at a center-of-mass energy √s=30 GeV using the MARK-J detector at PETRA. By measuring the energy and angular distribution of both neutrals and charged particles we were able to isolate unambiguously the three-jet events in a kinematic region where the backgrounds from q q and phase space contributions and other processes are small. Various comparisons of the data with quantum chromodynamics were made. The relative yield of three-jet events and the shape distribution of the events enable us to determine αs = 0.23 ± 0.02 (statistical error) with a systematic error of ± 0.04.

UNIQUE SOLUTION FOR THE WEAK NEUTRAL CURRENT COUPLING-CONSTANTS IN PURELY LEPTONIC INTERACTIONS

Abstract By combining results from the MARK-J at PETRA on Bhabha scattering, μ + μ - and τ + τ - production with recent world data from neutrino-electron scattering experiments, we determine unique values for the leptonic weak neutral current coupling constants g V and g A in the framework of electroweak models containing a single Z 0 . In contrast to previous analyses, we only use data from purely leptonic interactions, and therefore avoid the inherent uncertainties resulting from the use of hadronic targets. From the MARK-J data alone in the context of the standard SU(2) ⊗ U (1) model of Glashow, Weinberg and Salam, we find sin 2 θ W =0.24±0.11.

STUDY OF ELECTRON-POSITRON COLLISIONS AT THE HIGHEST PETRA ENERGY

Abstract We report on the results of the study of e + e − collisions at the highest PETRA energy of √ s = 31.57 GeV, using the 4π sr, electromagnetic and calorimetric detector Mark J. Based on 88 hadron events, and an integrated luminosity of 243 nb −1 we obtain R = σ (e + e − → hadrons)/ σ (e + e − → μ + μ − ) = 4.0 ± 0.5 (statistical) ± 6 (systematic). The R value, the measured thrust distribution and average spherocity show no evidence for the production of new quark flavors.