Charged Kaon Production in Tau Lepton Decays

Citation

Mills, Geoffrey Blount (1986) Charged Kaon Production in Tau Lepton Decays. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/n2rv-ma10. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechTHESIS:04162019-142819748

Abstract

The result of an experiment performed at the PEP e⁺e^- storage ring which operated at 29.0 GeV/c² is presented. The DELCO detector, which emphasizes Cherenkov particle identification, is used to measured the production of charged kaons in τ decays. The branching ratio of the Cabibbo-suppressed decays b(τ^± → K^± ν_τ) = (0.57 ± 0.15)%, b(τ^± → K^± ν_τ + nπ⁰) = (1.59 ± 0.23)% n ≥ 0, and b(τ^± → K^±π⁺π^-ν_τ(π⁰)) = (0.22^+0.16_-0.13)% are measured, and the branching ratio of the Cabibbo-favored decay b(τ^± → K⁺K^-π^±ν_τ) = (0.22^+0.17_-0.11)% is measured. These branching ratio measurements provide a test e - µ - τ universality and are in agreement with and the predictions of SU(3) sum rules. The invariant mass distribution of the K⁺K^-π system in the exclusive τ^± → K⁺K^-π^±ν_τ channel is used to set a limit of 157 MeV/c² at 95% CL on the τ neutrino mass.

Thesis Files