New Results from CLEO-II on Hadronic Decays of the Tau Lepton

Abstract

Results on semi-hadronic decays of the $τ$ lepton are presented, from studies of $e^+e^-$ annihilation data obtained at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring with the CLEO-II detector. Branching fractions have been measured for decays to two, three and four hadrons, namely $τ^-\!\!\rightarrow\! ν_τh^-π^0$, $τ^-\!\!\rightarrow\! ν_τh^-h^+h^-$, and $τ^-\!\!\rightarrow\! ν_τh^-h^+h^-π^0$, where $h^\pm$ represents a charged pion or kaon. CLEO-II has also observed decays with charged and/or neutral kaons; preliminary results for branching ratios and structure arising from the decay dynamics are given. Connections are made with predictions derived from theoretical models, the Conserved Vector Current theorem, isospin constraints and sum rules.