Inclusive strange vector and tensor meson production in hadronic Z0 decays

Abstract

Measurements have been made in the OPAL experiment at LEP of the inclusive production of strange vector φ(1020) and K*(892)0 mesons, and the tensor meson K *2 (1430)0. The overall production rates per hadronic Z0 decay have been determined to be 0.100±0.004stat.±0.007syst. φ(1020) mesons, 0.74±0.03stat.±0.03syst. K*(892)0 mesons and (forx E <0.3) 0.19±0.04stat.±0.06syst. K *2 (1430)0 mesons. The measurements for the vector states update previously published results based on lower statistics, while the K *2 (1430)0 rate represents the first direct measurement of a strange tensor state in Z0 decay. For the vector states, both the overall production rates and normalised differential cross sections, with respect to the scaled energy variablex E , have been compared to JETSET and HERWIG predictions. The peak positions in the ζ=ln(1/x p ) distributions have been measured and compared to measurements of other hadron states.