Hadron radiation in τ-production and the leptonic Z boson decay rate Original Research Article

Secondary radiation of hadrons from a τ-pair produced in electron-positron collisions may constitute an important obstacle for precision measurements of the production cross section and of branching ratios. The rate for real and virtual radiation is calculated and various distributions are presented. For Z decays a comprehensive analysis is performed which incorporates real and virtual radiation of leptons. The corresponding results are also given for primary electron and muon pairs. Compact analytical formulae are presented for entirely leptonic configurations. Measurements of Z partial decay rates which eliminate all hadron and lepton radiation are about 0.3% to 0.4% lower than totally inclusive measurements, a consequence of the O(a2) negative virtual corrections that are enhanced by the third power of a large logarithm.