Do Present LEP Data Provide Evidence for Electroweak Corrections?

Abstract

The Born approximation, based on $\barα\equivα(m_Z)$ instead of $α$, reproduces all electroweak precision measurements within their $(1σ)$ accuracy. The low upper limits for the genuinely electroweak corrections constitute one of the major achievements of LEP. The astonishing smallness of these corrections results from the cancellation of a large positive contribution from the heavy top quark and large negative contributions from all other virtual particles. It is precisely the non-observation of electroweak radiative corrections that places stringent upper and lower limits on the top mass.