A measurement of the charge asymmetry in e+e- → bb-bar and a search for new quarks at PETRA

An analysis of muon inclusive multihadronic events collected by the JADE detector at the electron positron storage ring is described. A measurement of a charge asymmetry in the process e+e- → bb-bar was made using two methods: (a) selecting a sample of events enriched in b content which led to an asymmetry of -(37 ± 18(statistical) ± 3(systematic))%, and (b) a maximum likelihood fit to all the muon inclusive data which resulted in an asymmetry of -(32 ± 17(statistical) ± 6(systematic))%. A search for new flavour production at the highest available centre of mass energies is also reported; a lower limit at the 95% confidence level for the top mass is set to Msub(t) > 23 GeV/c2 if the top quark has charge +2/3, and Msub(t) > 21.7 GeV/c2 if the top charge is -1/3. (author)