A measurement of the average bottom hadron lifetime

K. Ackerstaff, G. Alexander, J. Allison, N. Altekamp, K. Ametewee, K. J. Anderson, S. Anderson, S. Arcelli, S. Asai, D. Axen, G. Azuelos, A. H. Ball, E. Barberio, R. J. Barlow, R. Bartoldus, J. R. Bailey, J. Bechtluft, C. Beeston, T. Behnke, A. N. BellK. W. Bell, G. Bella, S. Bentvelsen, P. Berlich, S. Bethke, O. Biebel, V. Blobel, I. J. Bloodworth, J. E. Bloomer, M. Bobinski, P. Bock, H. M. Bosch, M. Boutemeur, B. T. Bouwens, S. Braibant, R. M. Brown, H. J. Burckhart, C. Burgard, R. Bürgin, P. Capiluppi, R. K. Carnegie, A. A. Carter, J. R. Carter, C. Y. Chang, D. G. Charlton, D. Chrisman, P. E.L. Clarke, I. Cohen, J. E. Conboy, O. C. Cooke, M. Cuffiani, S. Dado, C. Dallapiccola, G. M. Dallavalle, S. De Jong, L. A. Del Pozo, K. Desch, M. S. Dixit, E. Do Couto E Silva, M. Doucet, E. Duchovni, G. Duckeck, I. P. Duerdoth, J. E.G. Edwards, P. G. Estabrooks, H. G. Evans, M. Evans, F. Fabbri, P. Fath, F. Fiedler, M. Fierro, H. M. Fischer, R. Folman, D. G. Fong, M. Foucher, A. Fürtjes, P. Gagnon, A. Gaidot, J. W. Gary, J. Gascon, S. M. Gascon-Shotkin, N. I. Geddes, C. Geich-Gimbel, F. X. Gentit, T. Geralis, G. Giacomelli, P. Giacomelli, R. Giacomelli, V. Gibson, W. R. Gibson, D. M. Gingrich, D. Glenzinski, J. Goldberg, M. J. Goodrick, W. Gorn, C. Grandi, E. Gross, J. Grunhaus, M. Gruwé, C. Hajdu, G. G. Hanson, M. Hansroul, M. Hapke, C. K. Hargrove, P. A. Hart, C. Hartmann, M. Hauschild, C. M. Hawkes, R. Hawkings, R. J. Hemingway, M. Herndon, G. Herten, R. D. Heuer, M. D. Hildreth, J. C. Hill, S. J. Hillier, T. Hilse, P. R. Hobson, R. J. Homer, A. K. Honma, D. Horváth, R. Howard, R. E. Hughes-Jones, D. E. Hutchcroft, P. Igo-Kemenes, D. C. Imrie, M. R. Ingram, K. Ishii, A. Jawahery, P. W. Jeffreys, H. Jeremie, M. Jimack, A. Joly, C. R. Jones, G. Jones, M. Jones, R. W.L. Jones, U. Jost, P. Jovanovic, T. R. Junk, D. Karlen, K. Kawagoe, T. Kawamoto, R. K. Keeler, R. G. Kellogg, B. W. Kennedy, B. J. King, J. Kirk, S. Kluth, T. Kobayashi, M. Kobel, D. S. Koetke, T. P. Kokott, M. Kolrep, S. Komamiya, T. Kress, P. Krieger, J. Von Krogh, P. Kyberd, G. D. Lafferty, H. Lafoux, R. Lahmann, W. P. Lai, D. Lanske, J. Lauber, S. R. Lautenschlager, J. G. Layter, D. Lazic, A. M. Lee, E. Lefebvre, D. Lellouch, J. Letts, L. Levinson, C. Lewis, S. L. Lloyd, F. K. Loebinger, G. D. Long, M. J. Losty, J. Ludwig, A. Malik, M. Mannelli, S. Marcellini, C. Markus, A. J. Martin, J. P. Martin, G. Martinez, T. Mashimo, W. Matthews, P. Mättig, W. J. McDonald, J. McKenna, E. A. Mckigney, T. J. McMahon, A. I. McNab, R. A. McPherson, F. Meijers, S. Menke, F. S. Merritt, H. Mes, J. Meyer, A. Michelini, G. Mikenberg, D. J. Miller, R. Mir, W. Mohr, A. Montanari, T. Mori, M. Morii, U. Müller, K. Nagai, I. Nakamura, H. A. Neal, B. Nellen, B. Nijjhar, R. Nisius, S. W. O'Neale, F. G. Oakham, F. Odorici, H. O. Ogren, N. J. Oldershaw, T. Omori, M. J. Oreglia, S. Orito, J. Pálinkás, G. Pásztor, J. R. Pater, G. N. Patrick, J. Patt, M. J. Pearce, S. Petzold, P. Pfeifenschneider, J. E. Pilcher, J. Pinfold, D. E. Plane, P. Poffenberger, B. Poli, A. Posthaus, H. Przysiezniak, D. L. Rees, D. Rigby, S. Robertson, S. A. Robins, N. Rodning, J. M. Roney, A. Rooke, E. Ros, A. M. Rossi, M. Rosvick, P. Routenburg, Y. Rozen, K. Runge, O. Runolfsson, U. Ruppel, D. R. Rust, R. Rylko, K. Sachs, E. K.G. Sarkisyan, M. Sasaki, C. Sbarra, A. D. Schaile, O. Schaile, F. Scharf, P. Scharff-Hansen, P. Schenk, B. Schmitt, S. Schmitt, M. Schröder, H. C. Schultz-Coulon, M. Schulz, M. Schumacher, P. Schütz, W. G. Scott, T. G. Shears, B. C. Shen, C. H. Shepherd-Themistocleous, P. Sherwood, G. P. Siroli, A. Sittler, A. Skillman, A. Skuja, A. M. Smith, T. J. Smith, G. A. Snow, R. Sobie, S. Söldner-Rembold, R. W. Springer, M. Sproston, A. Stahl, M. Steiert, K. Stephens, J. Steuerer, B. Stockhausen, D. Strom, F. Strumia, P. Szymanski, R. Tafirout, S. D. Talbot, S. Tanaka, P. Taras, S. Tarem, M. Thiergen, M. A. Thomson, E. Von Törne, S. Towers, I. Trigger, T. Tsukamoto, E. Tsur, A. S. Turcot, M. F. Turner-Watson, P. Utzat, R. Van Kooten, G. Vasseur, M. Verzocchi, P. Vikas, M. Vincter, E. H. Vokurka, F. Wäckerle, A. Wagner, C. P. Ward, D. R. Ward, J. J. Ward, P. M. Watkins, A. T. Watson, N. K. Watson, P. S. Wells, N. Wermes, J. S. White, B. Wilkens, G. W. Wilson, J. A. Wilson, G. Wolf, S. Wotton, T. R. Wyatt, S. Yamashita, G. Yekutieli, V. Zacek

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7 Scopus citations

Abstract

The average b hadron lifetime, τb, has been measured using approximately 3.5 million hadronic events collected with the OPAL detector at LEP between 1991 and 1994. A lifetime tag based on a neural network algorithm was used to select Z0 → bb̄ events. A secondary vertex reconstructed on the opposite side from the b-tag was used to measure the b hadron decay length. This was combined with an estimate of the b hadron momentum, allowing the b hadron decay time to be evaluated. The lifetime, τb = 1.611 ± 0.010 (stat) ± 0.027 (syst) ps , was extracted from a fit involving the distribution of the 95620 decay times reconstructed in the data and the corresponding distribution in Monte Carlo.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)397-408
Number of pages12
JournalZeitschrift fur Physik C-Particles and Fields
Volume73
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1997
Externally publishedYes

Funding

Acknowledgements. We particularly wish to thank the SL Division for the efficient operation of the LEP accelerator and for their continuing close cooperation with our experimental group. In addition to the support staff at our own institutions we are pleased to acknowledge the Department of Energy, USA, National Science Foundation, USA, Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, UK, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada, Israel Science Foundation, administered by the Israel Academy of Science and Humanities, Minerva Gesellschaft, Japanese Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (the Monbusho) and a grant under the Monbusho International Science Research Program, German Israeli Bi-national Science Foundation (GIF), Direction des Sciences de la Matière du Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, France, Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie, Germany, National Research Council of Canada, Hungarian Foundation for Scientific Research, OTKA T-016660, and OTKA F-015089.

FundersFunder number
Direction des Sciences de la Matière du Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique
German Israeli Bi-national Science Foundation
Hungarian Foundation for Scientific ResearchOTKA F-015089, OTKA T-016660
Minerva Gesellschaft
National Science Foundation
U.S. Department of Energy
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
National Research Council Canada
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Israel Science Foundation

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