No Arabic abstract
The first observation of the decay K^+ --> pi^+ gamma gamma is reported. A total of 31 events was observed with an estimated background of 5.1 +- 3.3 events in the pi+ momentum range from 100 MeV/c to 180 MeV/c. The corresponding partial branching ratio, B(K+ -> pi+ gamma gamma, 100 MeV/c < P_pi^+ < 180 MeV/c), is (6.0 +- 1.5 (stat) +- 0.7 (sys)) x 10^{-7}. No K^+ --> pi^+ gamma gamma decay was observed in the pi^+ momentum region greater than 215 MeV/c. The observed pi^+ momentum spectrum is compared with the predictions of chiral perturbation theory.
A high statistics data sample of the decays of $K^+$ mesons to three charged particles was accumulated by the OKA experiment in 2012 and 2013. This allowed to select a clean sample of about 450 events with $K^{+}topi^{+}pi^{-}pi^{+}gamma$ decays with the energy of the photon in the kaon rest frame greater than 30 MeV. The measured branching fraction of the $K^{+}topi^{+}pi^{-}pi^{+}gamma$, with $E_{gamma}^{*}$ > 30 MeV is $(0.71 pm 0.05) times 10^{-5}$. The measured energy spectrum of the decay photon is compared with the prediction of the chiral perturbation theory to O$(p^{4})$. A search for an up-down asymmetry of the photon with respect to the hadronic system decay plane is also performed.
We have performed a measurement of the K^+ -> pi^+ pi^0 gamma decay and have observed 2 X 10^4 events. The best fit to the decay spectrum gives a branching ratio for direct photon emission of (4.7pm0.8pm0.3) X 10^{-6} in the pi^+ kinetic energy region of 55 to 90 MeV and requires no component due to interference with inner bremsstrahlung.
We have observed the rare decay K+ --> pi+ mu+ mu- and measured the branching ratio Gamma(K+ --> pi+ mu+ mu-)/Gamma(K+ --> all) = (5.0 +/- 0.4 (stat.) +/- 0.7 (sys.) +/- 0.6 (theor.)) x 10^{-8}. We compare this result with predictions from chiral perturbation theory and estimates based on the decay K+ --> pi+ e+ e-.
We investigate the rare radiative eta decay modes eta -> pi+ pi- gamma gamma and eta -> pi0 pi0 gamma gamma within the framework of chiral lagrangians at o(p^4) and present photon spectra for both processes.
Recently the radiative B decay to the strange axial-vector mesons, B --> K1(1270) gamma, has been observed with rather large branching ratio. This process is particularly interesting as the subsequent K1 decay into its three body final state allows us to determine the polarization of the photon, which is mostly left- (right-)handed for Bbar (B) in the SM while various new physics models predict additional right- (left-)handed components. A new method is proposed to determine the polarization, exploiting the full Dalitz plot distribution, which seems to reduce significantly the statistical errors. This polarization measurement requires however a detailed knowledge of the K1--> K pi pi strong interaction decays, namely, the various partial wave amplitudes into the several possible quasi two-body channels, as well as their relative phases. The pattern of partial waves is especially complex for the K1(1270). We attempt to obtain the information through the combination of an experimental input and a theoretical one, provided by the 3P0 quark-pair-creation model.