Four-jet signal at LEP2 and supersymmetry

ALEPH has reported a significant excess of four-jet events in the LEP runs above the Z(0) resonance, which however has not been confirmed by the other LEP collaborations. We assume here that this excess corresponds to a physics signal and try to interpret it in the context of supersymmetric models with R-parity violation. Associated production of a left and right selectron can explain all the distinctive features of the ALEPH data: the value of the cross section, the dijet mass difference, the absence of bottom quarks in the final state, and the dijet charge content. Our proposed scenario makes definite predictions, which can be tested at future LEP runs at higher energies. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.