Measurement of the spectral functions of vector current hadronic tau decays

A measurement of the spectral functions of non-strange τ vector current final states is presented, using 124 358 τ pairs recorded by the ALEPH detector at LEP during the years 1991 to 1994. The spectral functions of the dominant two- and four-pion τ decay channels are compared to published results of e ⁺ e ^- annihilation experiments via isospin rotation. A combined fit of the pion form factor from τ decays and e ⁺ e ^- data is performed using different parametrizations. The mass and the width of the ρ ^±(770) and the ρ ⁰(770) are separately determined in order to extract possible isospin violating effects. The mass and width differences are measured to be M _ρ ^± ₍₇₇₀₎ - M _ρ ⁰ ₍₇₇₀₎ = (0.0 ± 1.0) MeV/c ² and Γ _ρ ^± ₍₇₇₀₎ - Γ _ρ ⁰ ₍₇₇₀₎ = (0.1 ± 1.9) MeV/c ².     

Study of \tau decays involving kaons, spectral functions and determination of the strange quark mass

All ALEPH measurements of branching ratios of decays involving kaons are summarized including a combination of results obtained with and detection. The decay dynamics are studied, leading to the determination of contributions from vector and , and axial-vector and resonances. Agreement with isospin symmetry is observed among the different final states. Under the hypothesis of the conserved vector current, the spectral function for the mode is compared with the corresponding cross section for low energy annihilation, yielding an axial-vector fraction of for this mode. The branching ratio for decay into all strange final states is determined to be . The measured mass spectra of the strange decay modes are exploited to derive the spectral function. A combination of strange and nonstrange spectral functions is used to determine the strange quark mass and nonperturbative contributions to the strange hadronic width. A method is developed to avoid the bad convergence of the spin zero hadronic component, with the result MeV/. The evolution down to 1 GeV gives . Received: 24 February 1999 / Published online: 14 October 1999     

One-prong \tau decays with kaons

Cross-sections for hadronic, and lepton pair final states in collisions at =183 GeV, measured with the OPAL detector at LEP, are presented and compared with the predictions of the Standard Model. Forward-backward asymmetries for the leptonic final states have also been measured. Cross-sections and asymmetries are also presented for data recorded in 1997 at =130 and 136 GeV. The results are used to measure the energy dependence of the electromagnetic coupling constant , and to place limits on new physics as described by four-fermion contact interactions or by the exchange of a new heavy particle such as a leptoquark, or of a squark or sneutrino in supersymmetric theories with R-parity violation. Received: 3 July 1998 / Published online: 15 October 1998     

\tau\rightarrow\omegA3\pi\nu decays

A theoretical study of the anomalous decay mode is presented. The theoretical value of the branching ratio of agrees well with the data. The branching ratio of is predicted. It is found that the vertices of and play a dominant role in these two decay modes. CVC is satisfied, and there is no adjustable parameter. Received: 30 July 2001 / Published online: 21 November 2001     

Triggering on hadronic tau decays: ATLAS meets the challenge

Hadronic tau decays play a crucial role in taking Standard Model (SM) measurements as well as in the search for physics beyond the SM. However, hadronic tau decays are difficult to identify and trigger on due to their resemblance to QCD jets. Given the large production cross-section of QCD processes, designing and operating a trigger system to efficiently select hadronic tau decays, while maintaining the rate within the bandwidth limits, is a difficult challenge. This contribution will summarize the status and performance of the ATLAS tau trigger system during the 2010?C2011 data taking period. Different methods that have been explored to obtain the trigger efficiency curves from data will be shown. Finally, the status of the measurements, which include hadronic tau decays in the final state, will be summarized. In light of the vast statistics collected in 2011, future prospects for triggering on hadronic tau decays in this exciting new period of increased instantaneous luminosity will be presented.     

Lepton flavor changing in neutrinoless \tau decays

Neutrino oscillations, as recently reported by the Super-Kamiokande collaboration, imply that lepton numbers could be violated, and are some typical examples. We point out that in these neutrinoless modes, the GIM cancelation is much milder with only a logarithmic behavior where are the neutrino masses. This is in sharp contrast with the vanishingly small amplitude strongly suppressed by the quadratic power . In comparison with the hopelessly small branching ratio B, the B could be larger than . The latter mode, if measurable, could give one more constraint to the lepton mixing angle and the neutrino mass ratio , and therefore is complementary to neutrino oscillation experiments. Received: 29 October 1998 / Published online: 11 March 1999     

K^0_S production in \tau decays

From a sample of about 160k candidates collected with the ALEPH detector at LEP between 1991 and 1995, lepton decays involving are studied. The associated production in decays is also investigated. The branching ratios are measured for the inclusive decay , where can be anything, and for the exclusive decays The decay is studied for the first time, giving a branching ratio The channels , , , , and are also investigated. In addition, mass spectra in the and final states are analysed to provide information on the intermediate states produced in the decays. Received: 6 January 1998 / Published online: 15 May 1998     

An upper limit for the \tau–neutrino mass from \tau\rightarrow 5\pi^{\pm}\nu_{\tau} decays

An upper limit for the –neutrino mass has been determined from the decay using data collected with the OPAL detector from 1991 to 1995 in collisions at . A limit of 43.2 MeV at 95% CL is obtained using a two–dimensional method in the invariant mass and energy distribution from 22 selected events. Combining this result with OPAL's previously published measurement using decays, a new combined limit of MeV (95% CL) is obtained. Received: 15 April 1998 / Published online: 12 August 1998     

Polarization in semileptonic \mathrm{B}\rightarrow X\tau decays

The paper gives the polarization of the tau lepton in the semileptonic B decays with respect to the direction of the virtual W boson. The result given includes the nonperturbative HQET corrections. The perturbative QCD corrections are probably negligible, as is suggested by the existing results for the longitudinal polarization of the charged lepton (Jeżabek and Urban, 1998). Received: 14 January 1999 / Revised version: 14 May 1999 / Published online: 14 October 1999     

Measurement of the Michel parameters in leptonic tau decays

The Michel parameters of the leptonic decays are measured using the OPAL detector at LEP. The parameters , , (with ) and are extracted from the energy spectra of the charged decay leptons and from their energy–energy correlations. A new method involving a global likelihood fit of Monte Carlo generated events with complete detector simulation and background treatment has been applied to the data recorded at center-of-mass energies close to corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 155 pb. If e- universality is assumed and inferring the polarization from neutral current data, the measured Michel parameters are: where the value of has been constrained using the published OPAL measurements of the leptonic branching ratios and the lifetime. Limits on non-standard coupling constants and on the masses of new gauge bosons are obtained. The results are in agreement with the V–A prediction of the Standard Model. Received: 25 June 1998 / Published online: 1 March 1999     

Measurement of charge asymmetries in charmless hadronic B meson decays

We search for CP-violating charge asymmetries (alpha(CP)) in the B meson decays to K(+/-)pi(-/+), K(+/-)pi(0), K(0)(S)pi(+/-), K(+/-)eta('), and omega pi(+/-). Using 9.66 million upsilon(4S) decays collected with the CLEO detector, the statistical precision on alpha(CP) is in the range of +/-0.12 to +/-0.25 depending on decay mode. While CP-violating asymmetries of up to +/-0.5 are possible within the standard model, the measured asymmetries are consistent with zero in all five decay modes studied.