# References

UCRHEP-T263

September 1999

Fitting Precision Electroweak Data   
with Exotic Heavy Quarks   
Darwin Chang, We-Fu Chang   
NCTS and Department of Physics, National Tsing-Hua University,   
Hsinchu 30043, Taiwan, ROC   
Ernest Ma   
Physics Department, Univeristy of California,   
Riverside, CA 92521, USA   

## Abstract

The 1999 precision electroweak data from LEP and SLC persist in showing some slight discrepancies from the assumed standard model, mostly regarding $`b`$ and $`c`$ quarks. We show how their mixing with exotic heavy quarks could result in a more consistent fit of all the data, including two unconventional interpretations of the top quark.

Precision measurements of electroweak parameters at the $`Z`$ resonance have been available for many years. Their updated values in 1999 as reported at Tampere and at Stanford are consistent with the expectations of the minimal standard model, including all radiative corrections to one-loop order. However, certain slight discrepancies persist, mostly regarding $`b`$ and $`c`$ quarks. In this note, we show how their mixing with exotic heavy quarks could result in a more consistent fit of all the data, including two unconventional interpretations of the top quark.

The most telling sign that there may be something beyond the minimal standard model in precision electroweak measurements is the observation that the two most precise measurements of $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{eff}`$ are 3.0 standard deviations apart. One is the left-right asymmetry $`A_{LR}`$ (which directly measures $`A_e`$) from SLC at SLAC that gives

$$\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{eff}(A_{LR})=0.23101\pm 0.00028,$$
(1)   
and the other is the forward-backward asymmetry $`A_{FB}^{0,b}`$ of $`b`$ quarks from LEP at CERN which gives

$$\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{eff}(A_{FB}^{0,b})=0.23236\pm 0.00036.$$
(2)   
We note that Eq. (1) is consistent with the forward-backward asymmetry of leptons measured at LEP which gives

$$\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{eff}(A_{FB}^{0,l})=0.23107\pm 0.00053,$$
(3)   
whereas Eq. (2) is consistent with the $`A_b`$ measurement at SLC, i.e. $`A_b=0.905\pm 0.026`$ versus the extracted value of $`A_b=0.881\pm 0.020`$ from the value of $`A_{FB}^{0,b}`$ shown. This points to the possibility that there is new physics in the decay $`Zb\overline{b}`$.

Specifically, consider the effective left-handed and right-handed couplings of the $`b`$ quark to the $`Z`$ boson in the standard model:

$`g_{bL}^{SM}`$ $`=`$ $`\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{ϵ_1}{2}}\right)\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}(1+ϵ_b)+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{eff}\right),`$ (4)   
$`g_{bR}^{SM}`$ $`=`$ $`\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{ϵ_1}{2}}\right){\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{eff},`$ (5)   
where the radiative corrections $`ϵ_1`$ and $`ϵ_b`$ are functions of $`m_t`$ and $`m_H`$. Note the important fact that $`ϵ_b`$ (which has a strong quadratic dependence on $`m_t`$) contributes only to $`g_{bL}^{SM}`$. On the other hand, the measured quantity $`R_b\mathrm{\Gamma }(Zb\overline{b})/\mathrm{\Gamma }(Z\mathrm{hadrons})`$ is proportional to $`g_{bL}^2+g_{bR}^2`$, whereas $`A_{FB}^{0,b}`$ and $`A_b`$ are proportional to $`(g_{bL}^2g_{bR}^2)/(g_{bL}^2+g_{bR}^2)`$. From the 1999 data reported at Tampere and at Stanford,

$$R_b=0.21642\pm 0.00073,A_{FB}^{0,b}=0.0984\pm 0.0020,A_b=0.905\pm 0.026,$$
(6)   
the couplings $`g_{bL}`$ and $`g_{bR}`$ can be extracted:

$$g_{bL}=0.4163\pm 0.0020,g_{bR}=0.0996\pm 0.0076.$$
(7)   
Using $`m_t=174`$ GeV, $`m_H=100`$ GeV, and $`\alpha (m_Z)^1=128.9`$, the standard model yields

$$g_{bL}^{SM}=0.4208,g_{bR}^{SM}=0.0774.$$
(8)   
Note that $`g_{bL}^2+g_{bR}^2`$ is almost exactly equal to $`(g_{bL}^{SM})^2+(g_{bR}^{SM})^2`$, but $`g_{bL}`$ and $`g_{bR}`$ are each over two standard deviations away from $`g_{bL}^{SM}`$ and $`g_{bR}^{SM}`$ respectively.

As we already pointed out last year, since $`ϵ_b`$ depends only on the left-handed partner of the $`b`$ quark, this may be an indication that $`m_t`$ is actually much greater than 174 GeV and the observed “top” events are due to an exotic quark $`Q_4`$ of charge $`4/3`$. In this scenario, the singlet $`b_R`$ mixes with the exotic quark $`Q_1`$ in the doublet $`(Q_1,Q_4)_R`$ so that

$`g_{bR}`$ $`=`$ $`\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{ϵ_1}{2}}\right)\left[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{eff}\mathrm{cos}^2\theta _b+\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{eff}\right)\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _b\right]`$ (9)   
$`=`$ $`\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{ϵ_1}{2}}\right)\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{eff}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _b\right).`$   
Since $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{eff}/3`$ is small to begin with, a reasonably small $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _b`$ is sufficient to make $`g_{bR}`$ fit the data. \[If radiative corrections to $`g_{bR}`$ from new physics were invoked, an unreasonably large effect of about 30% would be needed.\] In the following we will update our analysis using the 1999 data. We will also address the new possibility that slight discrepancies in $`Zc\overline{c}`$ may be due to yet another exotic quark and offer a second alternative interpretation of the “top” events.

Using the 1999 $`Zl^{}l^+`$ data assuming lepton universality, i.e.

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_l=83.96\pm 0.09\mathrm{MeV},A_{FB}^{0,l}=0.01701\pm 0.00095,$$
(10)   
together with

$$m_W=80.394\pm 0.042\mathrm{GeV},m_Z=91.1871\pm 0.0021\mathrm{GeV},$$
(11)   
we find

$$ϵ_1=(4.7\pm 1.1)\times 10^3,ϵ_2=(7.2\pm 2.4)\times 10^3,ϵ_3=(3.6\pm 1.7)\times 10^3,$$
(12)   
which agree very well with previous values and also with the standard model, i.e.

$$ϵ_1^{SM}=5.4\times 10^3,ϵ_2^{SM}=7.6\times 10^3,ϵ_3^{SM}=5.2\times 10^3.$$
(13)   
Using Eqs. (3), (4) and (7), we then obtain

$$ϵ_b=(15.3\pm 4.0)\times 10^3.$$
(14)   
This implies that

$$m_t=271\begin{array}{c}+33\hfill \\ 38\hfill \end{array}\mathrm{GeV},$$
(15)   
where we have approximated $`ϵ_b`$ by its leading contribution, $`G_Fm_t^2/4\pi ^2\sqrt{2}`$. To explain $`g_{bR}`$ of Eq. (7) and thus also Eq. (2), we use Eq. (9) and find

$$\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _b=0.045\pm 0.015.$$
(16)   
In the standard model, $`ϵ_1`$ and $`ϵ_b`$ are fixed by $`m_t=174`$ GeV and $`\theta _b`$ is absent, so the experimental discrepancy from $`Zb\overline{b}`$ data is forced into a value of $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{eff}`$ given by Eq. (2) which is 3.0 standard deviations away from the true value given by Eqs. (1) and (3).

Our interpretation of the data so far is that $`b_R`$ is not purely $`I_3=0`$ as in the standard model, but has a small $`I_3=1/2`$ component from mixing with the exotic $`(Q_1,Q_4)_R`$ doublet. We also take the viewpoint that $`b_L`$ is as given by the standard model and the measured $`g_{bL}`$ is a direct indication of the mass of its partner, defined as the $`t`$ quark. This results in Eq. (15). At this point, we need to revise our assessment of the agreement of Eq. (12) with Eq. (13), namely that in the presence of new physics, $`ϵ_{1,2,3}`$ receive additional contributions, hence a change in the value of $`m_t`$ may be suitably compensated. Details have already been discussed in our previous paper.

Consider now the 1999 $`Zc\overline{c}`$ data:

$$R_c=0.1674\pm 0.0038,A_{FB}^{0,c}=0.0691\pm 0.0037,A_c=0.630\pm 0.026,$$
(17)   
from which the couplings $`g_{cL}`$ and $`g_{cR}`$ can be extracted:

$$g_{cL}=0.341\pm 0.005,g_{cR}=0.164\pm 0.005,$$
(18)   
whereas the standard model yields

$$g_{cL}^{SM}=0.347,g_{cR}^{SM}=0.155.$$
(19)   
Although the deviations here are small, there is a hint that $`g_{cR}`$ may be too big in magnitude and $`g_{cL}`$ too small. To explain both, we take the analog of Eq. (9) and let $`c`$ mix with a heavy quark $`Q_2`$, where $`Q_{2L}`$ is a singlet but $`(Q_5,Q_2)_R`$ is an exotic doublet, so that

$`g_{cR}`$ $`=`$ $`\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{ϵ_1}{2}}\right)\left({\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{eff}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{cR}\right),`$ (20)   
$`g_{cL}`$ $`=`$ $`\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{ϵ_1}{2}}\right)\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{eff}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{cL}\right).`$ (21)   
Using Eqs. (3), (12) and (18), we then obtain

$$\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{cR}=0.02\pm 0.01,\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{cL}=0.01\pm 0.01.$$
(22)   
This opens up the possibility that $`Q_2`$ may also mix with $`t`$ (and not just with $`c`$) so that the Tevatron “top” events are due to $`Q_2`$ rather than $`t`$ which is heavier. This second interpretation is of course much more speculative because it is not directly related to the data. Note that the $`ϵ_{1,2,3}`$ contributions of $`Q_2`$ and $`Q_5`$ may be handled in the same way as those of $`Q_1`$ and $`Q_4`$, as discussed by us in Ref. .

In conclusion, we have shown in this short note that the 1999 precision electroweak data at LEP and SLC still support the possibility that $`b_R`$ mixes with $`Q_{1R}`$ of the exotic heavy quark doublet $`(Q_1,Q_4)_R`$. Hence the “top” events may be due to $`Q_4`$ which has charge $`4/3`$, whereas the true $`t`$ quark is heavier, as evidenced by the value of $`ϵ_b`$ extracted from $`g_{bL}`$. Experimentally, $`tbW^+`$ and $`\overline{Q}_4\overline{b}W^+`$ are not distinguishable at the Tevatron at present because the $`b`$ or $`\overline{b}`$ jet charge is not easily measured, but that will become possible in the near future. We also propose here a second, more speculative idea that the “top” events may be due to a heavy quark $`Q_2`$ of charge 2/3, where $`Q_{2L}`$ is a singlet but $`(Q_5,Q_2)_R`$ is an exotic doublet. In both scenarios, the lifetime of the “top” is enhanced by the inverse square of a reduced coupling and the single production of “top” at the Tevatron is suppressed.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We thank J. H. Field and P. B. Renton for valuable correspondence. This work was supported in part by the U. S. Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-FG03-94ER40837 and a grant from the National Science Council of the Republic of China.