Three-Jet Event Orientation in e+e- Annihilation: New Tests of the Standard Model

We discuss the orientation of e+e- -> q qbar g events in terms of the polar and azimuthal angles of the event plane w.r.t. the electron beam direction. We define an asymmetry of the azimuthal-angle distribution, which, along with the left-right forward-backward polar-angle asymmetry, is sensitive to parity-violating effects in three-jet events; these have yet to be explored experimentally. We have evaluated these observables at O(alpha_s) in perturbative QCD and present their dependence on longitudinal beam polarisation and c.m. energy. We also define a moments analysis in terms of the orientation angles that allows a new and more detailed test of QCD by isolating the six independent helicity cross-sections.