A measurement of the gluon splitting rate into b(b)over-bar pairs in hadronic Z decays

A measurement of the fraction of hadronic Z decays in which a, gluon splits into a b (b) over bar pair, g(<b(b)over bar>), is presented using data collected by ALEPH from 1992 to 1995 at the Z resonance. The selection is based on four-jet events. Events are selected by means of topological cuts and a lifetime tag. The result is g(<b(b)over bar>) = (2.77 +/- 0.42(stat) +/- 0.57(syst)) x 10(-3). (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. RI Jones, Roger/H-5578-2011; Passalacqua, Luca/F-5127-2011; Murtas, Fabrizio/B-5729-2012; O'Shea, Val/G-1279-2010; Ferrante, Isidoro/F-1017-2012; Sanchez, Federico/F-5809-2012