Measurement of the High-Mass Drell-Yan Cross Section and Limits on Quark-Electron Compositeness Scales

Abstract

We present a measurement of the Drell-Yan cross section at high dielectron invariant mass using $120\mathrm{pb}{}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ of data collected in $p\overline{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}1.8\mathrm{TeV}$ by the D0 Collaboration during 1992--1996. No deviation from standard model expectations is observed. We use the data to set limits on the quark-electron compositeness scale. The $95%$ confidence level lower limits on the compositeness scale vary between 3.3 and 6.1 TeV depending on the assumed form of the effective contact interaction.