Determination of the branching ratio of the decay $π^{0}$ → $e^{+}$ $e^{-}$

Publisher Website

5 July 1993

journal article
research article
Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters

Vol. 71 (1) , 27-30
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.71.27

Abstract

Employing the decay chain

K^{+}

→

π^{+}

π^{0}

,

π^{0}

→

e^{+}

e^{-}

we have observed the decay

π^{0}

→

e^{+}

e^{-}

. With a signal sample of ≊21 events we measure the branching ratio for

π^{0}

→

e^{+}

e^{-}

to be (6.9±2.3±0.6)×

10^{- 8}

, normalized to the decay

K^{+}

→

π^{+}

π^{0}

,

π^{0}

→

e^{+}

e^{-}

γ. This result is consistent with the unitarity lower bound and the published 90% confidence level upper limit of 13×

10^{- 8}

.

Keywords

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