Inclusive strange vector and tensor meson production in hadronic Z0 decays

Measurements have been made in the OPAL experiment at LEP of the inclusive production of strange vector φ(1020) and K*(892)0 mesons, and the tensor meson K 2 * (1430)0. The overall production rates per hadronic Z0 decay have been determined to be 0.100±0.004stat.±0.007syst. φ(1020) mesons, 0.74±0.03stat.±0.03syst. K*(892)0 mesons and (forx E <0.3) 0.19±0.04stat.±0.06syst. K 2 * (1430)0 mesons. The measurements for the vector states update previously published results based on lower statistics, while the K 2 * (1430)0 rate represents the first direct measurement of a strange tensor state in Z0 decay. For the vector states, both the overall production rates and normalised differential cross sections, with respect to the scaled energy variablex E , have been compared to JETSET and HERWIG predictions. The peak positions in the ζ=ln(1/x p ) distributions have been measured and compared to measurements of other hadron states.