Measuring the Running of the Electromagnetic Coupling Alpha in Small Angle Bhabha Scattering

Abstract

We propose a method to determine the running of $\alpha_{QED}$ from the measurement of small-angle Bhabha scattering. The method is suited to high statistics experiments at $e^{+} e^{-}$ colliders, which are equipped with luminometers in the appropriate angular region. We present a new simulation code predicting small-angle Bhabha scattering. A detailed description of this idea can be found in A.B. Arbuzov, D. Haidt, C. Matteuzzi, M. Paganoni and L. Trentadue, The running of the electromagnetic coupling alpha in small-angle Bhabha scattering, Eur. Phys. J. C34, 267 (2004).