Study of the φ decays into π0π0γ and ηπ0γ final states

Abstract Radiative decays of the φ meson have been studied using a data sample of about 19 million φ decays collected by the CMD-2 detector at VEPP-2M collider in Novosibirsk. From selected e + e − → π 0 π 0 γ and e + e − → ηπ 0 γ events the following model independent results have been obtained: Br ( φ → π 0 π 0 γ )=(0.92±0.08±0.06)×10 −4 for M π 0 π 0 >700 MeV, Br ( φ → ηπ 0 γ )=(0.90±0.24±0.10)×10 −4 . It is shown that the intermediate mechanism f 0 (980) γ dominates in the φ → π 0 π 0 γ decay and the corresponding branching ratio is Br ( φ → f 0 (980) γ )=(2.90±0.21±1.54)×10 −4 . The systematic error is dominated by the possible model uncertainty. Using the same data sample the upper limit has been obtained for the P- and CP-violating decay of η at 90% CL: Br ( η → π 0 π 0 ) −4 .