Measurement of the running of the QED coupling in small-angle Bhabha scattering at LEP

dc.creatorThe OPAL Collaboration
dc.creatorAbbiendi, G.
dc.date2005-05-24
dc.date2006-02-23
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T12:24:57Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T12:24:57Z
dc.descriptionUsing the OPAL detector at LEP, the running of the effective QED coupling alpha(t) is measured for space-like momentum transfer from the angular distribution of small-angle Bhabha scattering. In an almost ideal QED framework, with very favourable experimental conditions, we obtain: Delta alpha(-6.07GeV^2) - Delta alpha(-1.81GeV^2) = (440 pm 58 pm 43 pm 30) X 10^-5, where the first error is statistical, the second is the experimental systematic and the third is the theoretical uncertainty. This agrees with current evaluations of alpha(t).The null hypothesis that alpha remains constant within the above interval of -t is excluded with a significance above 5sigma. Similarly, our results are inconsistent at the level of 3sigma with the hypothesis that only leptonic loops contribute to the running. This is currently the most significant direct measurment where the running alpha(t) is probed differentially within the measured t range.
dc.description43 pages, 12 figures, Submitted to Euro. Phys. J. C
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ex/0505072
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ex/0505072
dc.identifierEur.Phys.J.C45:1-21,2006
dc.identifierdoi:10.1140/epjc/s2005-02389-3
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/214481
dc.subjectHigh Energy Physics - Experiment
dc.titleMeasurement of the running of the QED coupling in small-angle Bhabha scattering at LEP
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