Colour Connections in e+e- annihilation

We have a very limited knowledge about how the confinement mechanism works in
processes like $\epea\epe\ra\epq\epqa\ggn\ldots\ggn$, when there are identical
colour charges. In this case the partons can be colour connected by a string or
a cluster chain in several different ways. We do not know if in such a situation
Nature chooses a particular configuration at random, or if some configuration is
dynamically favoured. Also in the perturbative parton cascade we have no well
founded recipe for describing the interference effects, which correspond to non
planar diagrams and are caused by identical colour charges. We have studied two
different models, and are in particular interested in the possibility that a
colour singlet gluon system hadronizes isolated from the remainder of the state.
Using double tagged events with heavy $\epc\epca$ or $\epb\epba$ quarks, it
appears to be possible to find a significant signal, if such events appear in
Nature.

If this type of (re)connected states appear in Z decays it may also be an
indication that reconnection might appear between the decay products of two W's
in the reaction $\epea\epe\ra\gwp\gwm\ra\epq_1\epqa_2\epQ_1\epQa_2$ at LEP2.
This would be important e.g. for a precision measurement of the W mass.