M. Acciarri et al., Measurements of the b(b)over-bar production cross section and forward-backward asymmetry at centre-of-mass energies above the Z pole at LEP, PHYS LETT B, 485(1-3), 2000, pp. 71-84
The measurements of R-b = sigma(e(+)e(-) --> b (b) over bar)/sigma(e(+)e(-)
--> q (q) over bar) and of the b quark forward-backward charge asymmetry,
A(fb)(b), at centre-of-mass energies above the Z pole an described. The mea
surement of R-b is performed at root s between 130 and 189 GeV using a b-ta
gging method that exploits the relatively large decay length of b-hadrons,
The measurement of A(fb)(b) is performed using the large statistics event s
ample collected at root s = 189 GeV with a lepton-tag analysis based on the
selection of prompt muons and electrons. The results at root s = 189 GeV a
re R-b = 0.163 +/- 0.013 (stat.) +/- 0.005 (syst.), A(fb)(b) = 0.61 +/- 0.1
8 (stat.) +/- 0.09 (syst.). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V, All rights reser
ved.