The four LEP collaborations, ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL, have searched for the neutral Higgs bosons which are predicted by the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The data of the four collaborations are statistically combined and examined for their consistency with the background hypothesis and with a possible Higgs boson signal. The combined LEP data show no significant excess of events which would indicate the production of Higgs bosons. The search results are used to set upper bounds on the cross-sections of various Higgs-like event topologies. The results are interpreted within the MSSM in a number of "benchmark" models, including CP-conserving and CP-violating scenarios. These interpretations lead in all cases to large exclusions in the MSSM parameter space. Absolute limits are set on the parameter tan β and, in some scenarios, on the masses of neutral Higgs bosons.

In this Report, QCD results obtained from a study of hadronic event structure in high energy e+e− interactions with the L3 detector are presented. The operation of the LEP collider at many different collision energies from 91 to 209 GeV offers a unique opportunity to test QCD by measuring the energy dependence of different observables. The main results concern the measurement of the strong coupling constant, alpha_s, from hadronic event shapes and the\ud study of effects of soft gluon coherence in charged particle multiplicity and momentum distributions

Single- and multi-photon events with missing energy are selected in 619 pb−1 of data collected by the L3 detector at LEP at centre-of-mass energies between 189 GeV and 209 GeV. The cross sections of the process e+e− → vv-bar gamma (gamma) are found to be in agreement with the Standard Model expectations, and the number of light neutrino species is determined, including lower energy data, to be N = 2.98 +/- 0.05 +/- 0.04.\ud Selection results are given in the form of tables which can be used to test future models involving single- and multi-photon signatures at LEP. These final states are also predicted by models with large extra dimensions and by several supersymmetric\ud models. No evidence for such models is found. Among others, lower limits between 1.5 TeV and 0.65 TeV are set, at 95% confidence level, on the new scale of gravity for the number of extra dimensions between 2 and 8

Extreme-ultraviolet to x-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) in operation for scientific applications are up to now single-user facilities. While most FELs generate around 100 photon pulses per second, FLASH at DESY can deliver almost two orders of magnitude more pulses in this time span due to its superconducting accelerator technology. This makes the facility a prime candidate to realize the next step in FELs-dividing the electron pulse trains into several FEL lines and delivering photon pulses to several users at the same time. Hence, FLASH has been extended with a second undulator line and self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) is demonstrated in both FELs simultaneously. FLASH can now deliver MHz pulse trains to two user experiments in parallel with individually selected photon beam characteristics. First results of the capabilities of this extension are shown with emphasis on independent variation of wavelength, repetition rate, and photon pulse length.

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Scalar partners of quarks and leptons, predicted in supersymmetric models, are searched for in e+e− collisions at centre-of-mass energies between 192 and 209 GeV at LEP. No evidence for any such particle is found in a data sample of 450 pb−1. Upper limits on their production cross sections are set and lower limits on their masses are derived in the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

The cross section of W-boson pair-production is measured with the L3 detector at LEP. In a data sample corresponding to a total luminosity of 629.4 pb−1, collected at centre-of-mass energies ranging from 189 to 209 GeV, 9834 four-fermion events with W bosons decaying into hadrons or leptons are selected. The total cross section is measured with a precision of 1.4% and agrees with the Standard Model expectation. Assuming charged-lepton universality, the branching fraction for hadronic W-boson decays is measured to be: Br(W→hadrons)=67.50±0.42(stat.)±0.30(syst.)%Br(W→hadrons)=67.50±0.42(stat.)±0.30(syst.)%, in agreement with the Standard Model. Differential cross sections as a function of the W− production angle are also measured for the semi-leptonic channels qqeν and qqμν

Doubly-charged Higgs bosons are searched for in e + e − collision data collected with the L3 detector at LEP at centre-of-mass energies up to 209 GeV. Final states with four leptons are analysed to tag the pair-production of doubly-charged Higgs bosons. No significant excess is found and lower limits at 95% confidence level on the doubly charged Higgs boson mass are derived. They vary from 95.5 GeV to 100.2 GeV, depending on the decay mode. Doubly-charged Higgs bosons which couple to electrons would modify the cross section and forward-backward asymmetry of the e + e − → e + e − process. The measurements of these quantities do not deviate from the Standard Model expectations and doubly-charged Higgs bosons with masses up to the order of a TeV are excluded.