Structure Functions and Distributions in Semileptonic Tau Decays

Abstract

Semileptonic decays of polarized $\tau$ leptons are investigated. The most general angular distribution of three meson final states ($\tau\rightarrow \pi\pi\nu,\,K\pi\nu,\, \pi\pi\pi\nu,\\ \,K\pi\pi\nu,\, KK\pi\nu,\, KKK\nu,\, \eta\pi\pi\nu,\,\ldots{}$) is discussed. It is shown, that the most general distribution can be characterized by 16 structure functions, most of which can be determined in currently ongoing high statistics experiments. Emphasis is put on $\tau$ decays in $e^{+}e^{-}$ experiments where the neutrino escapes detection and the $\tau$ rest frame cannot be reconstructed. The structure of the hadronic matrix elements, based on CVC and chiral lagrangians, is discussed.