Study of 3-prong Hadronic $\tau$ Decays with Charged Kaons

TL;DR

This study measures specific branching fractions of tau lepton decays involving charged kaons using data from the CLEO-II detector, providing insights into the decay structure of three-prong tau decays.

Contribution

First measurement of certain tau decay branching fractions involving charged kaons, enhancing understanding of tau decay dynamics.

Findings

Measured branching fractions for tau decays with charged kaons.

Provided upper limit for a rare decay mode.

Gained insights into the decay structure of three-prong tau decays.

Abstract

Using a sample of 4.7/fb integrated luminosity accumulated with the CLEO-II detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR), we have measured the branching fractions of the tau lepton into $K^- h^+ \pi^- \nu_\tau$ and $K^- K^+ \pi^- \nu_\tau$ relative to $h^- h^+ h^- \nu_\tau; K^- h^+ \pi^- \pi^0\nu_\tau$ and $K^- K^+ \pi^- \pi^0\nu_\tau$ relative to $h^- h^+ h^- \pi^0 \nu_\tau$. The relative branching fractions are: (5.16+-0.20+-0.50)*$10^{-2}$, (1.52+-0.14+-0.29)*$10^{-2}$, (2.54+-0.44+-0.39)*$10^{-2}$ and $<0.0154$ at 95% C.L., respectively. Coupled with additional experimental information, we use our results to extract information on the structure of three-prong tau decays to charged kaons.