Energy Correlations in Electron-Positron Annihilation: Testing Quantum Chromodynamics

Abstract

An experimental measure is presented for a precise test of quantum chromodynamics. This measure involves the asymmetry in the energy-weighted opening angles of the jets of hadrons produced in the process $e^{+}{e}^{-}\to \mathrm{hadrons}$ at energy $W$. It is special for several reasons: It is reliably calculable in asymptotically free perturbation theory; it has rapidly vanishing (order $\frac{1}{W^2}$) corrections due to nonperturbative confinement effects; and it is straightforward to determine experimentally.