Inclusive production of the meson in hadronic decays of the Z boson

The inclusive production rate of the ρ^±(770) vector meson in hadronic Z decays is measured with the ALEPH detector at the LEP collider. A total of 3.2 million hadronic events are selected from data recorded between 1991 and 1995. Decays of ρ^±→π⁰+π^± are reconstructed for x_E>0.05 and x_p>0.05 where x_p=p_ρ/p_beam and x_E=E_ρ/E_beam. The average ρ^± multiplicity per hadronic event is evaluated to be N(ρ^±)=2.59±0.03±0.15±0.04 where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. The third error is from the uncertainty in the extrapolation to x_p=x_E=0. The rates and differential cross-section are compared with Monte Carlo model predictions and OPAL measurements. Residual Bose–Einstein correlations are found to be an important component in the analysis.