Abstract
A new measurement of the branching ratio for the decay η→, made at the SATURNE II proton synchrotron, resulted in Γ(η→)/Γ(η→all)= [5.7±0.7(stat.)±0.5(syst.)]×. The reaction pdHeη close to threshold yielded 800 tagged η’s in a narrow momentum band around 257 MeV/c. Muon pairs were detected in two range telescopes. The data obtained consist of 114 events η→ on a background of 14 events. The new value for the branching ratio is 1.3±0.2 times the unitarity lower limit, consistent with most quark and vector meson dominance models which describe the decay as an electromagnetic transition with a two-photon intermediate state. The result resolves the discrepancy between the two previous measurements of this branching ratio.
- Received 26 January 1994
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.50.92
©1994 American Physical Society