English

A determination of the QED coupling at the $Z$ pole

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2009-10-28 v3

Abstract

We critically examine the evaluation of the hadronic contribution to the running of the QED coupling, α\alpha, from Q2=0Q^2=0 to Q2=MZ2Q^2=M_Z^2. Using data for e+ee^+e^-\to{}hadrons we find that α(MZ2)1=128.99±0.06\alpha(M_Z^2)^{-1} = 128.99\pm 0.06, as compared to the existing value of 128.87±0.12128.87\pm 0.12.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.hep-ph/9411377,
  title  = {A determination of the QED coupling at the $Z$ pole},
  author = {A. D. Martin and D. Zeppenfeld},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:hep-ph/9411377},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

We have made refinements to the calculation of the contribution to $\alpha(M_Z^2)$ from the $\pi^+\pi^-$ production, and from the region just above the $\psi$ resonances, including, in particular, a study of the implications of the Crystal Ball data for $R$. These refinements slightly reduce the value of $\alpha(M_Z^2)^{-1}$ from $129.10\pm 0.06$ to $128.99\pm 0.06$. Standard Latex, 12 pages. Four uufiled postscript files included. Compressed postscript version with figures available via anonymous ftp at ftp://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/pub/preprints/current/