NONFACTORIZABLE CORRECTIONS TO W-PAIR PRODUCTION

In this paper we study the non-factorizable QED corrections to W-pair- mediated (charged-current) four-fermion production in electron-positro n collisions. A brief account of the obtained analytical results is gi ven. They turn out to be different from the ones published in the lite rature. Numerical results are presented, in particular the effects on the W line-shape. These effects are of the order of a per cent. The va lidity of the presented calculations starts a few widths above the W-p air threshold. Applying the same methods to ZZ-or ZH-mediated four-fer mion production, the non-factorizable O(alpha) corrections to the Z or H line-shape vanish. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.