ANALYTICALLY EXPANDED AND INTEGRATED RESULTS FOR MASSIVE FERMION PRODUCTION IN 2-PHOTON COLLISIONS AND A HIGH-PRECISION ALPHA(S) DETERMINATION - ART. NO. 074005

The cross section for massive fermion production in two-photon collisi ons was examined at next-to-leading order in QCD-QED for general photo n helicity. The delta function (virtual + soft) part of the differenti al cross section was analytically integrated over the final state phas e space. Series expansions for the complete differential and total cro ss sections were given up to tenth order in the parameter beta. These were shown to be of practical use and revealed much structure. Accurat e parametrizations of the total cross sections were given, valid up to higher energies. The above results were applied to top quark producti on in the region not too far above threshold. The cross section was sh own to be quite sensitive to a, in the appropriate energy region. [S05 56-2821(98)03419-5]