Measurement of the Dalitz plot slope parameters of the K±→π±π+π− decay

Abstract The distribution of the K ± → π ± π + π − decays in the Dalitz plot has been measured by the NA48/2 experiment at the CERN SPS with a sample of 4.71 × 10 8 fully reconstructed events. With the standard Particle Data Group parameterization the following values of the slope parameters were obtained: g = ( − 21.134 ± 0.017 ) % , h = ( 1.848 ± 0.040 ) % , k = ( − 0.463 ± 0.014 ) % . The quality and statistical accuracy of the data have allowed an improvement in precision by more than an order of magnitude, and are such as to warrant a more elaborate theoretical treatment, including pion–pion rescattering, which is in preparation.