Perturbative quark mass corrections to the tau hadronic width

15 páginas, 3 figuras, 2 tablas.-- arXiv:hep-ph/9804462v1The perturbative quark-mass corrections to the τ hadronic width are analysed to O(αs3mq2), using the presently available theoretical information. The behaviour of the perturbative series is investigated in order to assess the associated uncertainties. The implications for the determination of the strange quark mass from τ decay data are discussed.This work has been supported in part by the European Union TMR Network EURODAPHNE |Contract No. ERBFMRX-CT98-0169 (DG 12 { MIHT)| and by CICYT, Spain, under Grants No. AEN-96/1672 and AEN-96/1718.Peer reviewe