Measurements of the tau lepton polarization and forward-backward polarizati
on asymmetry near the Z(0) resonance using the OPAL detector are described.
The measurements are based on analyses of tau -->e nu (e)nu (tau), tau -->
mu nu (mu)nu (tau), tau --> pi nu (tau), tau --> rho nu (tau) and tau -->a
(1)nu (tau) decays from a sample of 144,810 e(+) e(-) --> tau (+) tau (-) c
andidates corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 151 pb(-1). Assuming
that the tau lepton decays according to V-A theory, we measure the average
tau polarization near roots = M-z to be <P-tau>= (-14.10 +/- 0.73 +/-0.55)
% and the tau polarization forward-backward asymmetry to be A(pol)(FB) = (-
10.55 +/-0.76 +/-0.25)%, where the first error is statistical and the secon
d systematic. Taking into account the small effects of the photon propagato
r, photon-Z(0) interference and photonic radiative corrections, these resul
ts can be expressed in terms of the lepton neutral current asymmetry parame
ters:
A(tau) = 0.1456 +/- 0.0076 +/- 0.0057 A(e) = 0.1454 +/- 0.0108 +/- 0.0036
These measurements are consistent with the hypothesis of lepton universalit
y and combine to give A(t) = 0.1455 +/-0.0073. Within the context of the St
andard Model this combined result corresponds to = 0.23172 +/-0.00092. Comb
ing these results with those from the other OPAL neutral current measuremen
ts yields a value of = 0.23211 +/-0.00068.