Measurement of the strange spectral function in hadronic τ decays

G. Abbiendi*, C. Ainsley, P. F. Åkesson, G. Alexander, J. Allison, P. Amaral, G. Anagnostou, K. J. Anderson, S. Arcelli, S. Asai, D. Axen, G. Azuelos, I. Bailey, E. Barberio, T. Barillari, R. J. Barlow, R. J. Batley, P. Bechtle, T. Behnke, K. W. BellP. J. Bell, G. Bella, A. Bellerive, G. Benelli, S. Bethke, O. Biebel, O. Boeriu, P. Bock, M. Boutemeur, S. Braibant, L. Brigliadori, R. M. Brown, K. Buesser, H. J. Burckhart, S. Campana, R. K. Carnegie, A. A. Carter, J. R. Carter, C. Y. Chang, D. G. Charlton, C. Ciocca, A. Csilling, M. Cuffiani, S. Dado, A. DeRoeck, E. A. DeWolf, K. Desch, B. Dienes, M. Donkers, J. Dubbert, E. Duchovni, G. Duckeck, I. P. Duerdoth, E. Etzion, F. Fabbri, L. Feld, P. Ferrari, F. Fiedler, I. Fleck, M. Ford, A. Frey, P. Gagnon, J. W. Gary, G. Gaycken, C. Geich-Gimbel, G. Giacomelli, P. Giacomelli, M. Giunta, J. Goldberg, E. Gross, J. Grunhaus, M. Gruwé, P. O. Günther, A. Gupta, C. Hajdu, M. Hamann, G. G. Hanson, A. Harel, M. Hauschild, C. M. Hawkes, R. Hawkings, R. J. Hemingway, G. Herten, R. D. Heuer, J. C. Hill, K. Hoffman, D. Horváth, P. Igo-Kemenes, K. Ishii, H. Jeremie, P. Jovanovic, T. R. Junk, N. Kanaya, J. Kanzaki, D. Karlen, K. Kawagoe, T. Kawamoto, R. K. Keeler, R. G. Kellogg, B. W. Kennedy, K. Klein, A. Klier, S. Kluth, T. Kobayashi, M. Kobel, S. Komamiya, T. Krämer, P. Krieger, J. vonKrogh, K. Kruger, T. Kuhl, M. Kupper, G. D. Lafferty, H. Landsman, D. Lanske, J. G. Layter, D. Lellouch, J. Letts, L. Levinson, J. Lillich, S. L. Lloyd, F. K. Loebinger, J. Lu, A. Ludwig, J. Ludwig, W. Mader, S. Marcellini, A. J. Martin, G. Masetti, T. Mashimo, P. Mättig, J. McKenna, R. A. McPherson, F. Meijers, W. Menges, S. Menke, F. S. Merritt, H. Mes, A. Michelini, S. Mihara, G. Mikenberg, D. J. Miller, S. Moed, W. Mohr, T. Mori, A. Mutter, K. Nagai, I. Nakamura, H. Nanjo, H. A. Neal, R. Nisius, S. W. O'Neale, A. Oh, A. Okpara, M. J. Oreglia, S. Orito, C. Pahl, G. Pasztor, J. R. Pater, J. E. Pilcher, J. Pinfold, D. E. Plane, B. Poli, O. Pooth, M. Przybycień, A. Quadt, K. Rabbertz, C. Rembser, P. Renkel, J. M. Roney, S. Rosati, Y. Rozen, K. Runge, K. Sachs, T. Saeki, E. K.G. Sarkisyan, A. D. Schaile, O. Schaile, P. Scharff-Hansen, J. Schieck, T. Schörner-Sadenius, M. Schroder, M. Schumacher, W. G. Scott, R. Seuster, T. G. Shears, B. C. Shen, P. Sherwood, A. Skuja, A. M. Smith, R. Sobie, S. Soldner-Rembold, F. Spano, A. Stahl, D. Strom, R. Strühmer, S. Tarem, M. Tasevsky, R. Teuscher, M. A. Thomson, E. Torrence, D. Toya, P. Tran, I. Trigger, Z. Trócsányi, E. Tsur, M. F. Turner-Watson, I. Ueda, B. Ujvári, C. F. Vollmer, P. Vannerem, R. Vértesi, M. Verzocchi, H. Voss, J. Vossebeld, D. Waller, C. P. Ward, D. R. Ward, P. M. Watkins, A. T. Watson, N. K. Watson, P. S. Wells, T. Wengler, N. Wermes, D. Wetterling, G. W. Wilson, J. A. Wilson, G. Wolf, T. R. Wyatt, S. Yamashita, D. Zer-Zion, L. Zivkovic

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

57 Scopus citations

Abstract

Tau lepton decays with open strangeness in the final state are measured with the OPAL detector at LEP to determine the strange hadronic spectral function of the τ lepton. The decays τ-→ (Kπ) -ντ, (Kππ)-ντ and (Kπππ) - with final states consisting of neutral and charged kaons and pions have been studied. The invariant mass distributions of 93.4% of these final states have been experimentally determined. Monte Carlo simulations have been used for the remaining 6.6% and for the strange final states including η mesons. The reconstructed strange final states, corrected for resolution effects and detection efficiencies, yield the strange spectral function of the τ lepton. The moments of the spectral function and the ratio of strange to non-strange moments, which are important input parameters for theoretical analyses, are determined. Furthermore, the branching fractions B(τ - → K-π0ντ) = (0.471 ±0.059stat±0.023sys) % and B(τ -→ K-π+π-ντ) = (0.415 ± 0.053stat ± 0.040sys) % have been measured.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)437-455
Number of pages19
JournalEuropean Physical Journal C
Volume35
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2004

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