Production and decay of the charged D∗ meson in e+e− annihilation at 10 GeV centre-of-mass energy

Abstract Using the ARGUS detector at DORISwe have observed the prediction of the charged D∗ mesonin e + e − annihilation at a center of mass energy of 10 GeV. The D ∗ fragmentation functionhas been measured using the decay channels D ∗+ → D 0 π + and D 0 → K − π + and K − π + π + π − . We find σ·Br for the channels D 0 → K − π + and D 0 → K − π + π + π − to be (23.6 ± 2.2 ± 4.7) pb and (51.0 ± 4.6 ± 15.5) pb respectively, and the ratio of branching ratios Br(D 0 → K − π + π + π − )/Br(D 0 → K − π + ) = 2.17 ± 0.28 ± 0.23. In addition we measure the mass difference M( D ∗+ ) − M( D 0 ) to be (145.46 ± 0.07 ± 0.03) MeV, and set an upper limit for D 0 − D 0 mixing of 0.11.