SU(3) Symmetry in Electron-Positron Annihilation

Abstract

Exact SU(3) predicts equal production of ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{+}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ and ${K}^{+}{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ final states, while ${K}^{0}{\overline{K}}^{0}$ is forbidden as a result of cancelation between isovector and isoscalar photon contributions. Symmetry breaking destroys coherence between $p$-, $\ensuremath{\omega}$-, and $\ensuremath{\phi}$-like photon components. Branching ratios $\frac{\frac{{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{+}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}}{{K}^{+}{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}}}{\frac{{K}^{0}}{{\overline{K}}^{0}}}$ calculated under various coherence assumptions give different results. Experimental measurements should test this interference and give insight into the role of photon SU(3) structure in deep annihilation.