Heavy Flavour Electroweak Physics Review

Abstract

The four LEP experiments and the SLD detector have measured the Z partial widths for Z decays into b and c quarks and the corresponding forward-backward asymmetries at centre-of-mass energies close to the Z boson mass. The results yield a very precise determination of the effective vector and axial-vector coupling constants and of the underlying electroweak mixing angle sin(theta[eff,lep]), probing the Standard Model prediction for the electroweak radiative corrections. Of special interest is hereby a difference at the level of three standard deviations in the mixing angle results from lepton production and those obtained from the forward-backward asymmetry in b quark production. The b quark asymmetry measurements, some of which are still in the process of being finalised, are therefore discussed in detail.