Production of P-wave charm and charm-strange mesons in hadronic Z[sup 0] decays

Abstract

Measurements of the production rates of the D10(2420) and D2*0(2460) mesons in hadronic Z0 decays are presented based on an analysis of over 4 million events recorded using the OPAL detector at LEP. These rates are determined separately for production in charm fragmentation and in the inclusive decays of bottom flavoured hadrons. The Ds1+(2536) meson is also observed using its D*0K+ and D*+KS0 decay modes and an estimate of its production rate in charm fragmentation is presented. These are seen to be in agreement with recent phenomenological parametrizations of hadron production rates in Z0 decays.