We have measured inclusive distributions for charged particles in hadronic decays of the Z boson. The variables chosen for study were charged-particle multiplicity, scaled momentum, and momenta transverse to the sphericity axes. The distributions have been corrected for detector effects and are compared with data from ee- annihilation at lower energies and with the predictions of several QCD-based models. The data are in reasonable agreement with expectations. © 1990 The American Physical Society.

Using the sample of neutral vector bosons (Z's) produced at the SLAC Linear Collider and detected with the Mark II detector, we search for the decay of the Z to a pair of particles, one of which decays to two charged particles. The observed number of Z decays with this signature excludes, at a confidence level greater than 95%, the decay of the Z to a pair of fourth-generation Dirac neutrinos with mass between 2.5 and 22 GeV, a decay length less than about 1 cm, and coupling to any of the first three generations of charged leptons. This is the first time the existence of such a lepton coupling to the ± has been excluded by a direct search. © 1990 The American Physical Society.

A precise measurement of the ratio R of the total cross section e+e-hadrons to the pointlike cross section e+e-+- at a center-of-mass energy of 29.0 GeV is presented. The data were taken with the upgraded Mark II detector at the SLAC storage ring PEP. The result is R=3.920.050.09. The luminosity has been determined with three independent luminosity monitors measuring Bhabha scattering at different angular intervals. Recent calculations of higher-order QED radiative corrections are used to estimate the systematic error due to missing higher-order radiative corrections in the Monte Carlo event generators. © 1991 The American Physical Society.

Using isolated leptons reconstructed in the Mark II detector to tag bb events, we measure the fraction of bb events in hadronic Z0 decays to be 0.23-0.09+0.11, in good agreement with the standard-model prediction of 0.22. We find (Zbb)=0.43-0.17+0.21 GeV. © 1990 The American Physical Society.

A search for pair production of stable charged particles from Z decay has been performed with the Mark II detector at the SLAC Linear Collider. Particle masses are determined from momentum, ionization energy loss, and time-of-flight measurements. A limit excluding pair production of stable fourth-generation charged leptons and stable mirror fermions with masses between the muon mass and 36.3 GeV/c2 is set at the 95% confidence level. Pair production of stable supersymmetric scalar leptons with masses between the muon mass and 32.6 GeV/c2 is also excluded. © 1990 The American Physical Society.

We measured the differential jet-multiplicity distribution in e+e- annihilation with the Mark II detector. This distribution is compared with the second-order QCD prediction and s is determined to be 0.1230.0090.005 at ssSMZ (at the SLAC Linear Collider) and 0.1490.0020.007 at ss=29 GeV (at the SLAC storage ring PEP). The running of s between these two center-of-mass energies is consistent with the QCD prediction. © 1990 The American Physical Society.

We have searched for supersymmetric particles in 528 Z decays with the Mark II detector at the SLAC Linear Collider. We place 95%-confidence-level lower mass limits on degenerate squarks, nondegenerate up-type squarks, nondegenerate down-type squarks, charginos, pair-produced unstable neutralinos, and neutralinos from associated production. © 1990 The American Physical Society.