Related papers: On the Behavior of the Effective QCD Coupling alph…
The decay rate of the $\tau$ lepton into hadrons of invariant mass smaller than $Q\gg\Lambda_{\rm QCD}$ can be calculated in QCD using the OPE. Using experimental data on the hadronic mass distribution, the running coupling constant…
Three important QCD-related aspects of the $\tau$ and $\mu$ dynamics are reviewed: the determination of the strong coupling from the hadronic tau decay width, leading to the updated value $\alpha_s(m_\tau^2) = 0.331 \pm 0.013$; the…
We review our recent determination of the strong coupling \alpha_s from the OPAL data for non-strange hadronic tau decays. We find that \alpha_s(m^2_\tau) =0.325+-0.018 using fixed-order perturbation theory, and…
The leptonic decays of the tau lepton provide relevant tests on the structure of the weak currents and the universality of their couplings to the gauge bosons. The hadronic tau decay modes constitute an ideal tool for studying low--energy…
The pure leptonic or semileptonic character of tau decays makes them a good laboratory to test the structure of the weak currents and the universality of their couplings to the gauge bosons. The hadronic tau decay modes constitute an ideal…
The results of two methods to extract the strong coupling constant, $\alpha_s$, are reviewed for the LEP experiments. In the first, scaling violations in the scaled momentum distributions of charged particles at LEP and at lower energy…
Being a determination at low energies, the analysis of hadronic tau decay data provides a rather precise determination of the strong coupling alpha_s after evolving the result to M_Z. At such a level of precision, even small…
Hadronic tau decays represent a clean laboratory for the precise study of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Observables (sum rules) based on the spectral functions of hadronic tau decays can be related to QCD quark-level calculations to…
The spectral functions of the vector current and the axial-vector current have been measured in hadronic tau decays using the OPAL detector at LEP. Within the framework of the Operator Product Expansion a simultaneous determination of the…
The $\tau$ decay rate into hadrons of invariant mass smaller than $\sqrt{s_0}\gg\Lambda_{\rm QCD}$ can be calculated in QCD assuming global quark--hadron duality. It is shown that this assumption holds for $s_0>0.7$~GeV$^2$. From…
The pure leptonic or semileptonic character of tau decays makes them a good laboratory to test the structure of the weak currents and the universality of their couplings to the gauge bosons. The hadronic tau decay modes constitute an ideal…
The QCD analysis of hadronic tau decays is reviewed and a summary of the present phenomenological status is presented. The following topics are discussed: the determination of alpha_s(m_tau) = 0.338 +- 0.012 from the inclusive tau hadronic…
Using recently developed methods for the evaluation of five-loop amplitudes in perturbative QCD, corrections of order alpha_s^4 for the cross section of electron-positron annihilation into hadrons and for the decay rates of the Z-boson and…
We review our recent works on tests of perturbative QCD, inspired by the relation between the hadronic decay of the tau lepton and the e+ e- annihilation into hadrons. First, we present a set of commensurate scale relations that probe the…
We review the current status of the determination of the strong coupling from tau decay. Using the most recent release of the ALEPH data, a very comprehensive phenomenological analysis has been performed, exploring all strategies previously…
We perform a precise extraction of the QCD coupling at the $\tau$-mass scale, $\alpha_s(m_\tau)$, from a new vector isovector spectral function which combines ALEPH and OPAL distributions for the dominant channels, $\tau\to\pi…
Precise measurements of the lepton properties provide stringent tests of the Standard Model and accurate determinations of its parameters. We overview the present status of tau physics, highlighting the most recent developments, and discuss…
We use a new compilation of the hadronic $R$-ratio from available data for the process $e^+e^-\to\mbox{hadrons}$ to determine the strong coupling, $\alpha_s$. We make use of all data for the $R$-ratio from threshold to a center-of-mass…
We study two and three meson decays of the tau lepton within the framework of the Resonance Chiral Theory, that is based on the following properties of QCD: its chiral symmetry in the massless case, its large-N_C limit, and the asymptotic…
The total tau hadronic width can be accurately calculated using analyticity and the operator product expansion. The result turns out to be very sensitive to the value of alpha_s(m_tau^2), providing a precise determination of the strong…