Investigation of colour reconnection in WW events with the DELPHI detector at LEP-2

In the reaction e(+)e(-) -> WW -> (q(1) (q) over bar (2))(q(3)(q) over bar (4)) the usual hadronization models treat the colour singlets q(1)(q) over bar (2) and q(3)(q) over bar (4) coming from two W bosons independently. However, since the. nal state partons may coexist in space and time, cross-talk between the two evolving hadronic systems may be possible during fragmentation through soft gluon exchange. This e. ect is known as colour reconnection. In this article the results of the investigation of colour reconnection e. ects in fully hadronic decays of W pairs in DELPHI at LEP are presented. Two complementary analyses were performed, studying the particle. ow between jets and W mass estimators, with negligible correlation between them, and the results were combined and compared to models. In the framework of the SK-I model, the value for its. parameter most compatible with the data was found to be: (SK)-S-kappa-I = 2.2(-1.3) (+2.5) corresponding to the probability of reconnection P-reco to be in the range 0.31 < P-reco < 0.68 at 68% confidence level with its best value at 0.52.