Search for fractionally charged particles produced in e+e− annihilation

Abstract A search has been made for particles with charge Q = 1 3 , Q = 2 3 and Q = 4 3 produced in e + e − annihilation using the ARGUS detector at the e + e − storage ring DORIS, operating at a centre of mass energy around 10 GeV. No candidate events were found in 84.5 pb −1 of collected data. Upper limits are established for the cross section for the production of fractionally charged particles with masses up to 4 GeV c 2 , improving on previously obtained limits.