Measurement of Z<sup>0</sup> lepton coupling asymmetries

Abstract

Polarized Z{sup 0}`s from e{sup +}e{sup {minus}} collisions at the SLAC Linear Collider (SLC) have been used to determine the asymmetry parameters A{sub e}, A{sub {mu}} and A{sub {tau}} from the leptonic decay channels. This is the first direct measurement of A{sub {mu}}. The data have been gathered by the SLC Large Detector (SLD) with the electron polarization averaging 63% during the 1993 data taking period and 77% in 1994-95. A maximum likelihood procedure as well as cross section asymmetries was used to measure the asymmetry parameters from the differential cross sections for equal luminosities of left- and right-handed electron beams. The polarization-dependent muon-pair distributions give A{sub {mu}} = 0.102 {+-}0.034 and the tau-pairs give A{sub {tau}} = 0.195 {+-}0.034. The initial state electronic couplings in all three leptonic channels as well as the final state angular distribution in the e{sup +}e{sup {minus}} final state measure A{sub e} to be A{sub e} = 0.152{+-}0.012. Assuming lepton universality and defining a global leptonic asymmetry parameter A{sub e-{mu}-{tau}} = 0.151{+-}0.011. This global leptonic asymmetry value translates directly into sin{sup 2}{theta}{sub W}{sup eff}=0.2310{+-}0.0014 at the Z{sup 0} pole.