Eur. Phys. J. C 29, 103-109 (2003)
DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s2003-01206

Model-independent constraints on contact interactions from LEP2 data analysis

A.A. Babich^{1, 2}, G. Della Ricca³, J. Holt⁴, P. Osland⁵, A.A. Pankov^{1, 3} and N. Paver<sup>3

1</sup>  Pavel Sukhoi Technical University, Gomel 246746, Belarus
²  ICTP, 34014 Trieste, Italy
³  University of Trieste and INFN-Sezione di Trieste, 34100 Trieste, Italy
⁴  CERN, 1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland
⁵  Department of Physics, University of Bergen, Allégaten 55, 5007 Bergen, Norway

(Received: 18 December 2002 / Revised version: 19 March 2003 / Published online: 13 May 2003 )

Abstract
We derive model-independent constraints on four-fermion contact interaction-type dynamics from the published preliminary LEP2 experimental data on e⁺e^- annihilation into and pairs, measured at different energies between 130 and 207 GeV. The basic observables are chosen to be the total cross section and the forward-backward asymmetry, and the analysis realistically takes into account data uncertainties and correlations among measurements at the various energies. The combination of data from different energy points plays an important role in the determination of regions allowed for the contact interaction coupling constants. In contrast to the more common one-parameter analyses, we only obtain constraints on pairs of parameters rather than limits on individual ones.

© Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2003