Observation of short range three-particle correlations in e+e- annihilations at LEP energies

Measurements are presented of short range three-particle correlations in e+e− annihilations at LEP using data collected by the DELPHI detector. At small values of the four-momentum difference, strong three-particle correlations are observed for like-sign (+++ and −−−) and for unlike-sign (++− and +−−) pion combinations which are not a consequence of two-particle correlations. A possible explanation of the observed effects in like-sign combinations is the existence of higher order Bose-Einstein interference, which significantly changes the particle distributions in jets.