Global Analysis of eeqq Contact Interactions and Future Prospects for High Energy Physics

Abstract

Data from HERA, LEP and the Tevatron, as well as from low energy experiments are used to constrain the scale of possible electron-quark contact interactions. Different models are considered, including the most general one, in which all new couplings can vary independently. Limits on couplings and mass scales are extracted and upper limits on possible effects to be observed in future HERA, LEP and Tevatron running are estimated. Total hadronic cross-section at LEP and e-p scattering cross-section at HERA are strongly constrained by existing data, whereas large cross-section deviations are still possible for Drell-Yan lepton pair production at the Tevatron.