βDecay ofK-Mesons and the Classification ofK-Meson Decays

Abstract

Three well-identified cases of $K$-electron decay have been observed at Rochester. The secondary electrons range in energy from 20 to 261 Mev showing that the decay involves at least 3 particles. The available data on $K$-meson decays observed in nuclear emulsion is analyzed from the point of view of asking how many of the secondaries are consistent with the assumption that they are $\mu$ mesons from the $K_{\mu 3}$ decay or electrons from the $K_{e3\mathrm{}}$ decay. It is found that an appreciable fraction ($\sim \frac{1}{3}$ to ½) of the observed decays are consistent with this assignment. The observed branching ratio is consistent with that deduced from a Fermi interaction, but the lifetime predicted on the basis of a universal Fermi interaction seems shorter than that suggested by the observations in emulsion. It is concluded that the existing data on $K$-mesons is consistent with the assumption that there exists at least five separate decay schemes and that it is possible for each case to consider the parent $K$-meson as having integral spin.