Measurement of the charged multiplicity of events containing bottom hadrons at Ec. m.=91 GeV

Using an impact-parameter tag to select an enriched sample of Z0bb» events, we have measured the difference between the average charged multiplicity of bb» and all hadronic Z0 decays to be 2.11.8(stat) 0.6(syst) tracks per event. The resulting total (nonleading) charged multiplicity for Z0 bb» events is 23.1(12.0)1.8 0.6 tracks. A comparison of this nonleading multiplicity to hadronic multiplicity data in the range of 10 to 60 GeV supports the hypothesis of flavor-independent hadronic fragmentation, and yields a measurement of the average energy fraction of bottom hadrons in Z0 decays of xEb=0.620.100.04. © 1992 The American Physical Society.