Weak interaction effects in e/sup +/e/sup -/ annihilation with polarised beams

Abstract

Although the standard gauge model of weak and electromagnetic interactions based on the work of Salam and Weinberg has met with great success, there are experimental facts that will require its extension or its modification to a new gauge model; the discovery of a heavy lepton at SLAC and the absence of parity violation in atoms that is expected from the neutral weak current coupling to electrons are discussed. Three tests are proposed that bear on these questions. First, heavy lepton production in e/sup +/e/sup -/ annihilation when one of the incident beams is longitudinally polarized is considered and the purely leptonic decay of this heavy lepton is examined. An asymmetry in the inclusive angular distribution of one charged lepton (electron or muon) is important in determining the structure of weak interactions of the heavy lepton. In fact, this angular asymmetry easily distinguishes between the cases V - A and V + A for the heavy lepton current. Then, the decay channel L ..-->.. ..nu../sub L/ + one hadron is considered (L = heavy lepton) under the same experimental set-up and the inclusive one-hadron angular distribution examined. Parity nonconservation in the decay of the heavy lepton causes a conspicuous forward-backward asymmetry in the cos theta distribution of the inclusive hadron spectrum near the high energy end that can be distinguished easily from other sources of asymmetry. It is easy then to discover the chirality (V - A or V + A) of the heavy lepton current. Finally a test is proposed which provides unambigous and clear evidence for parity violation in e/sup +/e/sup -/ annihilation. It consists in measuring a possible left-right asymmetry of inclusive hadron production with highly transversely polarized e/sup +/e/sup -/ incident beams. If observed, this asymmetry provides evidence of a parity violating neutral current coupling to electrons.