Search for rare and forbidden eta(') decays

ABSTRACT

We have searched for rare and forbidden decays of the eta(') meson in hadronic events at the CLEO II detector. The search is conducted on 4.80 fb(-1) of e(+)e(-) collisions at 10.6 GeV center-of-mass energy at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring. We find no signals, and set 90% confidence level upper limits of their branching fractions B(eta(')-->e(+)e(-)eta)<2.4x10(-3), B(eta(')-->e(+)e(-)pi(0))<1. 4x10(-3), B(eta(')-->e(+)e(-)gamma)<0.9x10(-3), and B(eta(')-->e&mgr;)<4.7x10(-4). We also fit the matrix element of the eta(')-->pi(+)pi(-)eta Dalitz plot with the parametrization |M|(2) = A|1+alphay|(2), where y is a linear function of the kinetic energy of the eta, and find Re (alpha) = -0.021+/-0.025.