A sample of 7253 $K^\pm\to\pi^\pm e^+e^-(\gamma)$ decay candidates with 1.0% background contamination has been collected by the NA48/2 experiment at the CERN SPS, allowing a precise measurement of the decay properties. The branching ratio in the full kinematic range was measured to be ${\rm BR}=(3.11\pm0.12)\times 10^{-7}$, where the uncertainty includes also the model dependence. The shape of the form factor $W(z)$, where $z=(M_{ee}/M_K)^2$, was parameterized according to several models, and, in particular, the slope $\delta$ of the linear form factor $W(z)=W_0(1+\delta z)$ was determined to be $\delta=2.32\pm0.18$. A possible CP violating asymmetry of $K^+$ and $K^-$ decay widths was investigated, and a conservative upper limit of $2.1\times 10^{-2}$ at 90% CL was established.
The $d\Gamma_{\pi ee}/dz$ spectrum (background subtracted, corrected for trigger efficiency). Systematic errors, notably the external one due to the branching ratios of the normalization decay mode according to PDG 2008, are not included.
Forum