Search for Single Top Quark Production at LEP2

Abstract

A search for single top quark production via flavour changing neutral currents (FCNC) was performed with data collected by the OPAL detector at the e+e- collider LEP. Approximately 600 pb-1 of data collected at sqrt(s) = 189 - 209 GeV were used to search for the FCNC process e+ e- -> tc(u) -> bWc(u). This analysis is sensitive to the leptonic and the hadronic decay modes of the W boson. No evidence for a FCNC process is observed. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level on the single top production cross-section as a function of the centre-of-mass energy are derived. Limits on the anomalous coupling parameters kappa_gamma and kappa_Z are determined from these results.