A study of the fragmentation properties of charm and bottom quarks intoD mesons is presented. From 263 700Z0 hadronic decays collected in 1991 with the DELPHI detector at the LEP collider,D0,D+ andD*+ are reconstructed in the modesK−π+,K−π+K+ andD0π+ followed byD0→K−π+, respectively. The fractional decay widths\(\Gamma {{(Z^0\to {D \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {D {\bar D}}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\bar D}}X)} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{(Z^0\to {D \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {D {\bar D}}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\bar D}}X)} {\Gamma _h }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\Gamma _h }}\) are determined, and first results are presented for the production ofD mesons from\(c\bar c\) and\(b\bar b\) events separately. The average energy fraction ofD*± in charm quark fragmentation is found to be 〈XE(D*)〉c=0.487±0.015 (stat)±0.005 (sys.). Assuming that the fraction ofDs and charm-baryons produced at LEP is similar to that around 10 GeV, theZ0 partial width into charm quark pairs is determined to beΓc/Γh=0.187±0.031 (stat)±0.023 (sys). The probability for ab quark to fragment into\(\bar B_s \) orb-baryons is inferred to be 0.268±0.094 (stat)±0.100 (sys) from the measured probability that it fragments into a\(\bar B^0 \) orB−.
We report results from two new methods for measuring the total production of charmed particles in nonresonant e+e− annihilations at √s =10.5 GeV. The rate for detection of events containing two reconstructed charmed mesons relative to that for events containing one is used to extract information about total charm production independent of decay branching fractions. The value of ΔRcc¯, the total charm-pair cross section normalized to the pointlike μ-pair cross section, is found to be 1.13−0.13+0.17±0.09, under an assumption of limited particle correlations. In an independent analysis the inclusive cross section for e+e−→qq¯→e±X is measured to be 0.293±0.017±0.017 nb. Using measured relative production rates and semileptonic branching fractions of D0 and D+ mesons and estimates of these quantities for Ds and Λc, this is found to correspond to ΔRcc¯=2.07±0.12±0.26. These two measurements are discussed in the context of measurements made by reconstruction of exclusive hadronic decay modes and of theoretical expectations.
The production ofDS+ mesons inB meson decays, and inq\(\bar q\) continuum events, has been studied with the ARGUS detector at thee+e− storage ring DORIS II. In addition to the measurement of inclusiveDS+ production in γ(4S)→B\(\bar B\) decays, all eight two-body decay modesB→DS(*)D(*) have been measured with branching ratios between 1% and 3%. By comparing our inclusive and exclusive results to predictions of heavy quark effective theory, a value of (267±28) MeV × [2.7%/BR(Ds+→φπ+)]1/2 is obtained for the weak decay constant fDS(*), averaged overDS+ andDS*+ mesons.
Using the ARGUS detector at thee+e− storage ring DORIS II at DESY, we have measured the inclusive production ofD0,D+ andD*(2010)+ mesons inB decays and in nonresonante+e− annihilation around 10.6 GeV. The inclusive branching ratios forB decays toD0,D+ andD*+ mesons are found to be (52.2±8.2±3.5)%, (27.2±6.3±3.5)% and (34.8±6.0±3.5)% respectively. Thus,D0 andD+ production account for about 70% of the charm produced inB decays, neglectingb→u contributions to the total width. The production cross sections and momentum spectra for continuume+e− annihilation are also presented.
Using the ARGUS detector at DORIS we have observed the prediction of the charged D ∗ meson in e + e − annihilation at a center of mass energy of 10 GeV. The D ∗ fragmentation function has been measured using the decay channels D ∗+ → D 0 π + and D 0 → K − π + and K − π + π + π − .
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Production of the F meson by e + e − annihilation at high energies has been obsrved in the ϕπ final state with a mass of 1.975 ± 0.009 ± 0.010 GeV and a width consistent with the mass resolution. The yield of F production times branching ratio relative to μ pair production is R F ( x ⩾ 0.3) B (F ± → ϕπ ± ) = 0.061 ± 0.012 ± 0.018.
Vector mesons produced in the reaction e + e − →V+X at √ s =29 GeV were isolated by observing D ∗ mesons through the D ∗+ → D 0 π + decay. The D 0 decay modes used are D 0 →K3 π , K π , K π , and K π ( π 0 ). The data, which correspond to an integrated luminosity of 300 pb −1 , were collected by the High Resolution Spectrometer at PEP. Spin density matrix elements for the D ∗ meson are measured as a function of the energy sharing variable Z D ∗ . There is no evidence for alignment of D ∗ mesons produced in e + e − annihilation at our energy.
Inclusive momentum and energy spectra of neutral and charged D-mesons produced in e + e − annihilation at energies near 7 GeV are presented. The slope of the energy spectrum is similar to the charged pion spectrum at the same energy. The inclusive cross section σ(e + e − → D or D + anything) at 7 GeV is 4.8±1.3 nb.
Using the ARGUS detector at the DORIS II storage ring at DESY, we have observed a charmed meson of mass (2455±3±5) MeV/c2, decaying to D + π − . The natural width of this state is determined to be (15 +13+5 −10−10 ) MeV c 2 . The fragmentation function is hard, as expected for a leading charmed particle from nonresonant e + e − annihilation. Analysis of the decay angular distribution supports the hypothesis that the observed state is an L =1 excited charmed meson with spin-parity 2 + .
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