Measurement of the e^{+}e^{-} Invariant-Mass Distribution in p¯p Collisions at s=1.8 TeV

We have measured the cross section as a function of invariant mass for isolated electron pairs produced in p¯p collisions at s=1.8 TeV for pair masses M>30 GeV/${\mathrm{c}}^2$. We find good agreement between the measured distribution and the standard-model prediction for the Drell-Yan production mechanism. Additional heavy neutral vector bosons (Z′) are excluded for ${\mathrm{M}}_{\mathrm{Z}\prime }$<387 GeV/${\mathrm{c}}^2$ (95% confidence level) assuming standard-model couplings. A lower limit of 2.2 TeV (95% confidence level) is placed on the electron-quark compositeness scale parameter ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_{\mathrm{LL}}^{\mathrm{-}}$ associated with an effective contact interaction.