Searching For Anomalous $τνW$ Couplings

Abstract

The capability of current and future measurements at low and high energy $e^+e^-$ colliders to probe for the existence of anomalous, CP conserving, $τνW$ dipole moment-type couplings is examined. At present, constraints on the universality of the tau charged and neutral current interactions as well as the shape of the $τ\to \ell$ energy spectrum provide the strongest bounds on such anomalous couplings. The presence of these dipole moments are shown to influence, e.g., the extraction of $α_s(m_τ^2)$ from $τ$ decays and can lead to apparent violations of CVC expectations.

24 pages, 9 figures