New physics signatures at a Linear Collider: model-independent analysis from `conventional' polarized observables

We discuss four-fermion contact-interaction searches in the processes e^+e^-\to\mu^+\mu^-, c{\bar c} and b{\bar b} at a future e^+e^- Linear Collider with c.m. energy \sqrt{s}=0.5 TeV and with both beams longitudinally polarized. Our analysis is based on the measurements of familiar polarized observables such as the total cross section and the forward-backward/left-right asymmetries, and accounts for the general set of contact interaction couplings as independent, non-zero, parameters thus avoiding simplifying, model-dependent, assumptions. We derive the corresponding model-independent constraints on the above-mentioned coupling constants, and evaluate the corresponding reach at the Linear Collider, emphasizing the role of beam polarization. We compare the results with a model-dependent procedure where only one coupling is varied at a time.