Review of tau lifetime measurements

TL;DR

This paper reviews the current status of tau lepton lifetime measurements, compares experimental conditions, discusses analysis methods, and highlights recent developments and systematic error considerations for future precision experiments.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of tau lifetime measurements, including new developments and systematic error analysis, to guide future high-precision experiments.

Findings

World average tau lifetime: 290.5 ± 1.0 fs

LEP experiments dominate current measurements

Systematic errors are critical for future precision

Abstract

The measurements of the mean lifetime of the tau lepton are reviewed. The conditions for measuring the lifetime at various e+e- colliders are compared and the analysis methods are briefly described. The new developments since the previous Workshop on Tau Lepton Physics are listed. The world average is tau_tau = 290.5 +- 1.0 fs. The LEP experiments dominate this average and have analyzed nearly all of their data. In anticipation of the next era of precision measurements at CLEO and the b factories, the important sources of systematic errors and the treatment of systematic biases are discussed.