TRANSVERSE POLARIZATION AT e+e− COLLIDERS AND CP VIOLATION FROM NEW PHYSICS

We investigate the implications of CP violation from new physics for the process [Formula: see text] using transversely polarized electrons at SLC and LEP. We define an asymmetry whose nonzero value signals the time reversal violation of the underlying interactions. Using a general effective Lagrangian we analyse the signal expected from any new physics. We show that for a large class of theories this observable is exclusively sensitive to a single CP-violating electron gauge boson dimension six interaction. Experiments at LEP can probe such CP violation from new physics at scales up to several TeV.