Production ofηandωmesons inτdecay and a search for second-class currents

The production of η and ω mesons in τ decay has been studied with the CLEO detector. A sample of 42 000 $e^{+}$ $e^{\mathrm{-}}$→${\tau }^{+}$ ${\tau }^{\mathrm{-}}$ events at a mean √s of 10.5 GeV is used in the analysis. The branching ratio B(${\tau }^{\mathrm{-}}$→ω${\pi }^{\mathrm{-}}$ ${\nu }_{\tau }$) is measured to be (1.60±0.27±0.41)%. No signal for η production from τ decay is observed, resulting in 95%-confidence-level upper limits of 1.8% for B(${\tau }^{\mathrm{-}}$→η${\pi }^{\mathrm{-}}$ ${\nu }_{\tau }$), 2.1% for B(${\tau }^{\mathrm{-}}$→η${\pi }^{\mathrm{-}}$ ${\pi }^0$ ${\nu }_{\tau }$), and 2.1% for inclusive η production in τ decay. No evidence is found for decays proceeding via second-class currents.