High statistics measurement of Ke4 decay properties

TL;DR

This paper presents a high-statistics experimental measurement of Ke4 decay properties, including branching ratios, form factors, phase shifts, and an improved value for the pi-pi scattering length, enhancing understanding of hadronic interactions.

Contribution

The study provides the first detailed measurement of Ke4 decay form factors and phase shifts with unprecedented precision, and introduces a more accurate determination of the pi-pi scattering length a00.

Findings

Branching ratio of Ke4 decay measured as (4.11+-0.01+-0.11)*10^(-5)

Form factors F, G, H characterized as functions of pi-pi invariant mass

pi-pi scattering length a00 determined as 0.216+-0.013

Abstract

We report experimental details and results of a new measurement of the decay K+ -> pi+pi-e+nue (Ke4}. A sample of more than 400,000 Ke4 events with low background has been collected by Experiment 865 at the Brookhaven Alternate Gradient Synchrotron. From these data, the branching ratio (4.11+-0.01+-0.11)*10**(-5) and the pi-pi invariant mass dependence of the form factors F, G, and H of the weak hadronic current as well as the phase shift difference delta00-delta11 for pi-pi-scattering were extracted. Using constraints based on analyticity and chiral symmetry, a new value with considerably improved accuracy for the s-wave pi-pi-scattering length a00 has been obtained also: a00=0.216+-0.013 (stat.)+-0.002(syst.)+-0.002(theor.).