A CRITICAL-LOOK AT PRECISION ELECTROWEAK DATA AT HIGH-ENERGY - A HINT FOR PHYSICS BEYOND THE STANDARD MODEL

High energy electroweak data, including the recent measurement of M(top) is analyzed within the basic framework of the standard model. While the experimentally measured value of R(b)(= GAMMA(Z-degrees --> bbBAR)/GAMMA(Z-degrees --> hadrons)) implies a low value of M(top), the rest of the data demands a much higher value. Estimates of M(Higgs) within the SM framework including and excluding this R(b) measurement are given. Next this discrepancy is expressed in terms of a new parameter, DELTAGAMMA(bbBAR)NSM, the excess bbBAR production compared to that expected from a SM fit. This parameter is determined to be (9.4 to 12.8) +/- 5.0 MeV, implying an excess of over 10 000 bbBAR events in each LEP experiment after the 1993 data is fully analyzed. The origin of these events could be non-minimal Higgs pair production which should be thoroughly searched for in the full data sample of approximately 2 x 10(6) events per LEP experiment. Unless this discrepancy eventually turns out to be a fluctuation one may be witnessing at LEP the advent of physics beyond the standard model.