Exclusive production of π and K meson pairs in two photon collisions is measured with ALEPH data collected between 1992 and 2000. Cross-sections are presented as a function of cos θ ∗ and invariant mass, for | cos θ ∗ |<0.6 and invariant masses between 2.0 and 6.0 GeV/ c 2 (2.25 and 4.0 GeV/ c 2 ) for pions (kaons). The shape of the distributions are found to be well described by QCD predictions but the data have a significantly higher normalization.

First results of the study of the process e+e- \to 4\pi by the CMD-2 collaboration at VEPP-2M are presented for the energy range 1.05--1.38 GeV. Using an integrated luminosity of 5.8 pb^{-1}, energy dependence of the processes e+e- \to \pi^+\pi^- 2\pi^0 and e+e- \to 2\pi^+ 2\pi^- has been measured. Analysis of the differential distributions demonstrates the dominance of the a_1\pi and \omega\pi intermediate states. Upper limits for the contributions of other alternative mechanisms are also placed.

In experiments with the CMD-2 detector at the VEPP-2M electron-positron collider at Novosibirsk about 150000 $e^+e^-\to\pi^+\pi^-$ events were recorded in the center-of-mass energy range from 0.61 up to 0.96 GeV. The result of the pion form factor measurement with a 1.4% systematic error is presented. The following values of the $\rho$-meson and $\rho-\omega$ interference parameters were found: $M_\rho=(775.28\pm 0.61\pm 0.20) MeV, \Gamma_\rho=(147.70\pm 1.29 \pm 0.40) MeV, \Gamma(\rho\to e^+e^-)=(6.93\pm 0.11\pm 0.10) keV, Br(\omega\to\pi^+\pi^-) = (1.32\pm 0.23)%$.

The cross section of the process e+ e- ---> eta gamma has been measured in the 600-1380 MeV c.m. energy range with the CMD-2 detector. The following branching ratios have been determined: B(rho ---> eta gamma) = (3.28 +- 0.37 +- 0.23) 10^{-4}, B(omega ---> eta gamma) = (5.10 +- 0.72 +- 0.34) 10^{-4}, B(phi --> eta gamma) = (1.287 +- 0.013 +- 0.063) 10^{-2}. Evidence for the rho'(1450) ---> eta gamma decay has been obtained for the first time.

Using 3.07 ${pb}^{-1}$ of data collected in the energy range 0.60-0.97 GeV by CMD-2, about 150 events of the process $\epm \to \pch$ have been selected. The energy dependence of the cross section agrees with the assumption of the $a_1(1260) \pi$ intermediate state which is dominant above 1 GeV. For the first time \fourpi events are observed at the $\rho$ meson energy. Under the assumption that all these events come from the $\rho$ meson decay, the value of the cross section at the $\rho$ meson peak corresponds to the following decay width: \Gamma(\rho^0 \to \fourpi) = (2.8 \pm 1.4 \pm 0.5) {keV} or to the branching ratio B(\rho^0 \to \fourpi) = (1.8 \pm 0.9 \pm 0.3) \cdot 10 ^{-5}.

About 11 200 e^+e^- -> omega -> pi^+pi^-pi^0 events selected in the center of mass energy range from 760 to 810 MeV were used for the measurement of the \omega meson parameters. The following results have been obtained: sigma _{0}=(1457 \pm 23 \pm 19)nb, m_{\omega}=(782.71 \pm 0.07 \pm 0.04) MeV/c^{2}, \Gamma_{\omega}=(8.68 \pm 0.23 \pm 0.10) MeV, \Gamma_{e^+e^-}\cdot Br (\omega -> pi^+pi^-pi^0)= (0.528 \pm 0.012 \pm 0.007) \cdot 10^{-3} MeV.

The cross section of the process e+e- -> pi+pi- has been measured using about 114000 events collected by the CMD-2 detector at the VEPP-2M e+e- collider in the center-of-mass energy range from 0.61 to 0.96 GeV. Results of the pion form factor determination with a 0.6% systematic uncertainty are presented. Implications for the hadronic contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment are discussed.

A study of the φ → π + π − π 0 decay mode has been performed using a data sample of about 2.0 million φ decays collected by the CMD-2 detector at VEPP-2M collider in Novosibirsk. The following parameters of the φ -meson have been measured: Br ( φ → π + π − π 0 )=0.145±0.009±0.003 and δ φ − ω =162±17°. The analysis of the Dalitz plot showed the dominance of the φ → ρπ intermediate mechanism, the limits for the ratio of the direct amplitude of φ →3 π to that of φ → ρπ are −0.16< a 1 <0.11 at 90% C.L. The upper limits for the probabilities of the decay modes φ → π + π − η and direct φ → ργγ have been found for the first time: Br ( φ → π + π − η )<3×10 −4 and Br ( φ → ργγ )<5×10 −4 at 90% C.L.

Results of the measurement of the φ meson parameters with the general purpose detector CMD-2 at the upgraded e + e − collider VEPP-2M at Novosibirsk are presented. This is the first measurement of the four major φ decay modes in a single e + e − experiment. The results based on about 55,600 identified hadronic events are consistent with previous measurements, and have precision comparable to the current world average.

The $e^+e^- \to \omega \pi^0 \to \pi^0 \pi^0 \gamma$ process was investigated in the SND experiment at the VEPP-2M collider. A narrow energy interval near the $\phi$-meson was scanned. The observed cross-section reveals, at the level of three standard deviation, the interference effect caused by $\phi \to \pi^0\pi^0\gamma$ decay. The cross-section parameters, as well as the real and imaginary parts of the $\phi$-meson related amplitude, were measured.

Using 11.6 pb^{-1} of data collected in the energy range 0.984--1.06 GeV by CMD-2 at VEPP-2M, the cross section of the reaction e+e- to pi+pi-pi+pi- has been studied. For the first time an interference pattern was observed in the energy dependence of the cross section near the phi meson. The branching ratio of the phi to pi+pi-pi+pi- decay double suppressed by the G-parity and OZI rule is measured Br(phi to pi+pi-pi+pi-) = (3.93 +- 1.74 +- 2.14) \cdot 10^{-6}. The upper limits have been placed for the decays phi to pi+pi-pi+pi-pi0 and phi to eta pi+pi- Br(phi to pi+pi-pi+pi-pi0) < 4.6 \cdot 10^{-6} 90% CL, Br(phi to eta pi+pi-) < 1.8 \cdot 10^{-5} 90% CL.

The processes e+ e- --> eta gamma, e+ e- --> pi0 gamma --> 3 gamma have been studied in the c.m. energy range 600--1380 MeV with the CMD-2 detector. The following branching ratios have been determined: Br(rho --> eta gamma) = (3.21 +- 1.39 +- 0.20)x 10^{-4}; Br(omega --> eta gamma) = (4.44 + 2.29 -1.83 +- 0.28)x 10^{-4}; Br(phi --> eta gamma) = (1.373 +- 0.014 +- 0.085)x 10^{-2}; Br(rho --> pi0 gamma) = (6.21 +1.28 - 1.18 +- 0.39)x 10^{-4}; Br(omega --> pi0 gamma) = (9.06 +- 0.20 +- 0.57)x 10^{-2}; Br(phi --> pi0 gamma) = (1.258 +- 0.037 +- 0.077)x 10^{-3};

The cross section of the process e+ e- --> pi0 pi0 gamma has been measured in the c.m. energy range 600--970 MeV with the CMD-2 detector. The following branching ratios have been determined: B(rho --> pi0 pi0 gamma) =(5.2^{+1.5}_{-1.3} +- 0.6)x10^{-5} and B(omega --> pi0 pi0 gamma) =(6.4^{+2.4}_{-2.0} +- 0.8)x10^{-5}. Evidence for the rho --> f0(600) gamma decay has been obtained: B(rho --> f0(600) gamma) = (6.0^{+3.3}_{-2.7}\pm 0.9)x10^{-5}. From a search for the process e+ e- --> eta pi0 gamma the following upper limit has been obtained: B(omega --> eta pi0 gamma) < 3.3 10^{-5} at 90% CL.

We present a measurement of the pion form factor based on e+e- annihilation data from the CMD-2 detector in the energy range 0.6&lt;sqrt(s)&lt;1.0 GeV with a systematic uncertainty of 0.8%. A data sample is five times larger than that used in our previous measurement.

The e+e- -> pi+pi-pi+pi- cross section has been measured using 5.8/pb of integrated luminosity collected with the CMD-2 detector at the VEPP-2M collider. Analysis of the data with a refined efficiency determination and use of both three- and four-track events allowed doubling of a data sample and reduction of systematic errors to 5-7%.

The cross section of the $e^+e^-\to\omega\pi^0\to\pi^0\pi^0\gamma$ reaction was measured by the SND detector at VEPP-2M $e^+e^-$ collider in the energy range from threshold up to 1.4 GeV. Results of the cross section fitting by the sum of $\rho$, $\rho^{\prime}$ and $\rho^{\prime\prime}$ contributions are presented.

In experiment with the SND detector at VEPP-2M $e^+e^-$ collider the $e^+e^-\to\eta\gamma$ cross section was measured in the energy range $E$=0.60--1.38 GeV with the integrated luminosity of 27.8 pb$^{-1}$. The measured cross section is well described by the vector meson dominance model with contributions from the $\rho(770)$, $\omega(783)$, $\phi(1020)$, $\rho^{\prime}(1465)$ resonances and agrees with results of previous measurements. The decay probabilities $\BR(\phi\to\eta\gamma)$, $\BR(\omega\to\eta\gamma)$ and $\BR(\rho\to\eta\gamma)$ were measured with the accuracies better than or comparable to the world averages.

The cross section of the process e+e- -> pi+pi- has been measured at the CMD-2 detector in the 370-520 MeV center-of-mass (c.m.) energy range. A systematic uncertainty of the measurement is 0.7 %. Using all CMD-2 data on the pion form factor, the pion electromagnetic radius was calculated. The cross section of muon pair production was also determined.

The cross section of the process e+ e- --> omega pi0 --> pi0 pi0 gamma has been measured in the c.m. energy range 920-1380 MeV with the CMD-2 detector. Its energy dependence is well described by the interference of the rho(770) and rho'(1450) mesons decaying to omega pi0. Upper limits for the cross sections of the direct processes e+ e- --> pi0 pi0 gamma, eta pi0 gamma have been set.

The cross section of the process $e^+e^-\to \pi^+\pi^-\pi^0$ was measured in the Spherical Neutral Detector experiment at the VEPP-2M collider in the energy region $\sqrt[]{s} = 980 \div 1380$ MeV. The measured cross section, together with the $e^+e^-\to \pi^+\pi^-\pi^0$ and $\omega\pi^+\pi^-$ cross sections obtained in other experiments, was analyzed in the framework of the generalized vector meson dominance model. It was found that the experimental data can be described by a sum of $\omega$, $\phi$ mesons and two $\omega^\prime$ and $\omega^{\prime\prime}$ resonances contributions, with masses $m_{\omega^\prime}\sim 1490$,$m_{\omega^{\prime\prime}}\sim 1790$ MeV and widths $\Gamma_{\omega^\prime}\sim 1210$, $\Gamma_{\omega^{\prime\prime}}\sim 560$ MeV. The analysis of the $\pi^+\pi^-$ invariant mass spectra in the energy region $\sqrt[]{s}$ from 1100 to 1380 MeV has shown that for their descriptionone should take into account the $e^+e^-\to\omega\pi^0\to\pi^+\pi^-\pi^0$ mechanism also. The phase between the amplitudes corresponding to the $e^+e^-\to\omega\pi$ and $e^+e^-\to\rho\pi$ intermediate states was measured for the first time. The value of the phase is close to zero and depends on energy.

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−.