PURSUING THE STRANGE STOP INTERPRETATION OF THE HERA LARGE-Q(2) DATA

We explore the possible interpretation of the large-Q(2) anomaly repor ted by the H1 and ZEUS Collaborations in terms of stop squark producti on off a strange quark in the proton via an R-violating interaction. T his ''strange stop'' interpretation is constrained by LEP measurements of the Z --> e(+)e(-) decay rate in addition to constraints from the electroweak rho parameter and CDF and DO searches for first-generation leptoquarks. We investigate the interplay between these constraints, taking full account of stop mixing effects. We find that if m(i) less than or equal to 200 GeV only relatively small domains of the chargino and neutralino parameters are consistent with these constraints, and explore the extent to which this scenario may be probed further by sea rches for contact interactions at LEP 2 and experiments with e(-) and polarized beams at HERA. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.