Colour connections in e+e- -annihilation

Abstract

We have a very limited knowledge about how the confinement mechanism works in processes like $\epea\epe\ra\epq\epqa\ggn\ldots\ggn$, when there are identical colour charges. In this case the partons can be connected by a string or a cluster chain in several different ways. We do not know if in such a situation Nature chooses a particular configuration at random, or if some configuration is dynamically favoured. Also in the perturbative parton cascade we have no well founded recipe for describing the interference effects, which correspond to non planar diagrams and are caused by identical colour charges. We have studied two different models, and are in particular interested in the possibility that a colour singlet gluon system hadronizes isolated from the remainder of the state. Using double tagged events with heavy $\epc\epca$ or $\epb\epba$ quarks, it appears to be possible to find a significant signal, if such events appear in Nature. If this type of (re)connected states appear in Z decays it may also be an indication that reconnection might appear between the decay products of two W's in the reaction $\epea\epe\ra\gwp\gwm\ra\epq_1\epqa_2\epQ_1\epQa_2$ at LEP2. This would be important e.g. for a precision measurement of the W mass.