Abstract
The DELPHI detector at LEP has collected 54 pb −1 of data at a centre-of-mass energy around 183 GeV during 1997, 158 pb −1 around 189 GeV during 1998, and 187 pb −1 between 192 and 200 GeV during 1999. These data were used to measure the average charged particle multiplicity in e +e −→b b ̄ events, 〈n〉 b b ̄ , and the difference δ bl between 〈n〉 b b ̄ and the multiplicity, 〈n〉 l l ̄ , in generic light quark (u,d,s) events: δ bl (183 GeV) =4.55±1.31( stat)±0.73( syst) , δ bl (189 GeV) =4.43±0.85( stat)±0.61( syst) , δ bl (200 GeV) =3.39±0.89( stat)±1.01( syst) . This result is consistent with QCD predictions, while it is inconsistent with calculations assuming that the multiplicity accompanying the decay of a heavy quark is independent of the mass of the quark itself.
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