Production of D**s mesons in hadronic Z decays
The production rates of the orbitally excited Ds** mesons, Ds1 and Ds2*, are measured with the 4.1 million hadronic Z decays recorded by the ALEPH detector during 1991--1995. The Ds** mesons are reconstructed in the decay modes Ds1+ -> D*+ K0, Ds1+ -> D*0 K+ and Ds2*+ -> D0 K+. The production rate of the Ds1 is measured to be n(Z->Ds1+-)=(0.52+-0.09+-0.06)%, under the assumption that the two considered decay modes of the Ds1 saturate the branching ratio. The production rate of the Ds2* is determined to be n(Z->Ds2*+-)=(0.83+-0.29+0.07-0.13)%, assuming that the branching fraction of the decay Ds2*+ -> D0 K+ is 45%. The production rates in Z->cc and Z->bbar decays are measured separately.

title: Measurement of the tau lepton lifetime
abstract: The mean lifetime of the lepton is measured in a sample of 25700 pairs collected in 1992 with the ALEPH detector at LEP. A new analysis of the 1-1 topology events is introduced. In this analysis, the dependence of the impact parameter sum distribution on the daughter track momenta is taken into account, yielding improved precision compared to other impact parameter sum methods. Three other analyses of the oneand three-prong decays are updated with increased statistics. The measured lifetime is 293:5 3:1 1:7 fs. Including previous (1989{1991) ALEPH measurements, the combined lifetime is 293:7 2:7 1:6 fs.

title: Charm counting in b decays
abstract: The inclusive production of charmed particles in decays has been measured from the yield of D0, D+, Ds+ and Λc+ decays in a sample of events with high b purity collected with the ALEPH detector from 1992 to 1995. From these measurements, adding the charmonia production rate and an estimate of the charmed strange baryon contribution, the average number of charm quarks per b decay is determined to be nc = 1.230 ± 0.036 ± 0.038 ± 0.053, where the uncertainties are due to statistics, systematic effects and branching ratios, respectively.

title: A Precise measurement of Gamma ($Z \to b \bar{b}$) / Gamma ($Z \to$ hadrons)

title: Update of electroweak parameters fromZ decays
abstract: AbstractBased on 520 000 fermion pairs accumulated during the first three years of data collection by the ALEPH detector at LEP, updated values of the resonance parameters of theZ are determined to beMZ=(91.187±0.009) GeV, ΓZ=(2.501±0.012) GeV, σhad0=(41.60±0.27) nb, andRℓ=20.78±0.13. The corresponding number of light neutrino species isNν=2.97±0.05. The forward-backward asymmetry in lepton-pair decays is used to determine the ratio of vector to axial-vector couplings of leptons:gV2(MZ2)/gA2(MZ2)=0.0052±0.0016. Combining this with ALEPH measurements of theb andc quark asymmetries and τ polarization gives sin2θWeff=0.2326±0.0013. Assuming the minimal Standard Model, and including measurements ofMW/MZ fromp
$$\bar p$$
 colliders and neutrino-nucleon scattering, the mass of the top quark is
$$M_{top} = 156 \pm \begin{array}{*{20}c}  \\ {25} \\ \end{array} \pm \begin{array}{*{20}c}  \\ {22Higgs} \\ \end{array} $$
 GeV.

title: Searches for scalar top and scalar bottom quarks at LEP2
abstract: Searches for scalar top and bottom quarks have been performed with data collected by the ALEPH detector at LEP. The data sample consists of 21.7 pb−1 taken at , and 5.7 pb−1 taken at . No evidence for scalar top quarks or scalar bottom quarks was found in the channels → cχ, → bl, and → bχ. For the channel → cχ a limit of 67 GeV/c2 has been set on the scalar top quark mass, independent of the mixing angle between the supersymmetric partners of the left and right-handed states of the top quark. This limit assumes a mass difference between the and the χ of at least 10 GeV/c2. For the channel → bl the mixing-angle independent scalar top limit is 70 GeV/c2, assuming a mass difference between the and the of at least 10 GeV/c2. For the channel → bχ, a limit of 73 GeV/c2 has been set on the mass of the supersymmetric partner of the left-handed state of the bottom quark. This limit is valid if the mass difference between the and the χ is at least 10 GeV/c2.

title: Towards the properties of long gamma-ray burst progenitors with Swift data
abstract: We investigate the properties of both the prompt and X-ray afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in the burst frame with a sample of 33 Swift GRBs. Assuming that the steep decay segment in the canonical X-ray afterglow light curves is due to the curvature effect, we fit the light curves with a broken power law to derive the zero time of the last emission epoch of the prompt emission (t 1 ) and the beginning as well as the end time of the shallow decay segment (t 2 and t 3 ). We show that both the isotropic peak gamma-ray luminosity (L peak,γ ) and gamma-ray energy (E iso,γ ) are correlated with the isotropic X-ray energy (E iso,γ ) of the shallow decay phase and the isotropic X-ray luminosity at t 2 (L x ,t 2 ). We infer the properties of the progenitor stars based on a model proposed by Kumar et al. who suggested that both the prompt gamma-rays and the X-ray afterglows are due to the accretions of different layers of materials of the GRB progenitor star by a central black hole (BH). We find that most of the derived masses of the core layers are M c = 0.1 ~ 5 M ☉ , and their average accretion rates in the prompt gamma-ray phase are M c = 0.01~ 1 M ☉ s -1 , with a radius of r c = 10 8 ~ 10 10 cm. The rotation parameter is correlated with the burst duration, being consistent with the expectation of collapsar models. The estimated radii and the masses of the fall-back materials for the envelope layers are r e = 10 10 ~ 10 12 cm and M e = 10 -3 ~ 1 M ☉ , respectively. The average accretion rates in the shallow decay phase are correlated with those in the prompt gamma-ray phase, but they are much lower, i.e. M e = 10 -8 ~ 10 -4 M ☉ s -1 . The r e values are smaller than the photospheric radii of Wolf-Rayet stars. In our calculation, we assume a uniform mass of the central BH (M BH = 10M ☉ ). Therefore, we may compare our results with simulation results. It is interesting that the assembled mass density profile for the bursts in our sample is well consistent with the simulation for a pre-supernova star with mass M = 25M ☉ .

title: On Hoyle-Narlikar-Wheeler mechanism of vibration energy powered magneto-dipole emission of neutron stars
abstract: We revisit the well-known Hoyle-Narlikar-Wheeler proposition that neutron star emerging in the magnetic-flux-conserving process of core-collapse supernova can convert the stored energy of Alfvén vibrations into power of magneto-dipole radiation. We show that the necessary requirement for the energy conversion is the decay of internal magnetic field. In this case the loss of vibration energy of the star causes its vibration period, equal to period of pulsating emission, to lengthen at a rate proportional to the rate of magnetic field decay. These prediction of the model of vibration powered neutron star are discussed in juxtaposition with data on pulsating emission of magnetars whose radiative activity is generally associated with the decay of ultra strong magnetic field.

title: On a synthetical method to constrain 3-D structure of emission regions of pulsars
abstract: The main idea and procedure are presented for a new synthetical method on constraining 3-D structure of emission regions of pulsars. With this method the emission regions can be synthetically constrained by fitting multi-wavelength observations features, e.g. pulse widths, phase offsets between radio pulse profiles and high energy light curves, and radio polarization properties. The main technique is based on numerically calculating the emission directions along any open field line via including aberration and retardation effects under a certain magnetic field configuration, e.g. vacuum dipole field. It can be easily extended by involving some further effects or magnetic field line configuration. The role of observed linear polarization properties in the method is discussed. The future application to known X/gamma-ray and radio pulsars will be helpful to test and improve current theoretical models on pulsar emission.

title: Pulsar slow glitches in a solid quark star model
abstract: A series of five unusual slow glitches of the radio pulsar B1822-09 (PSR J1825-0935) was observed between 1995 and 2005. This is a phenomenon that is understood in a solid quark star model, and reasonable parameters for slow glitches are given in this paper. We propose that, because of increasing shear stress as the pulsar spins down, a slow glitch may occur, beginning with the collapse of a superficial layer of the quark star. This layer of material turns to viscous fluid at first, the viscosity of which helps to deplete the energy released from both the accumulated elastic energy and the gravitation potential. There is then a slow glitch. Numerical calculations show that the slow glitches that have been observed could be reproduced if the effective coefficient of viscosity is ∼10 2 cm 2 s -1 and the initial velocity of the superficial layer is of the order of 10 -10 cm s -1 in the coordinate rotating frame of the star.

title: A TFD model for the Electrospheres of Bare Strange Quark Stars
abstract: We study the layer of electrons on bare strange star surfaces, taking the Dirac exchange-energy into account. Because electrons are fermions, the electron wave function must be of exchange-antisymmetry. The Dirac exchange-energy originates, consequently, from the exchange-antisymmetry of electron wave functions. This consideration may result in changing the electron distribution and the electric field on the surface of bare strange star. The strong magnetic field effect on the structures of the electrospheres is also discussed.