Decay of ChargedKMesons

The decay of the charged $K$ meson is considered under the assumption of the existence of two parity-conjugate particles with zero spin. The effect of a weak parity-mixing interaction, which may be of environmental or intrinsic origin, is studied. Two limiting cases are examined. If the parity-mixing interaction is weaker than the usual decay interactions, then the $\theta$ and $\tau$ mesons will appear to have the same lifetime far from their point of production; however, near the point of production a difference in their lifetimes should be discernible. On the other hand, if the parity-mixing interaction is somewhat larger than the decay interactions, only a single lifetime would occur. Ordinary decay experiments will not serve to distinguish between the latter case and the existence of a single kind of $K$ meson which decays without parity conservation.