Hadron production by e+e- annihilation at center-of-mass energies between 2.6 and 7.8 GeV. I. Total cross section, multiplicities, and inclusive momentum distributions

Abstract

Measurements of multihadron production in e+e- annihilation at center-of-mass energies between 2.6 and 7.8 GeV are presented. Aside from the narrow resonances (3095) and (3684), the total hadronic cross section is found to be approximately 2.7 times the cross section for the production of muon pairs at c.m. energies below 3.7 GeV and 4.3 times the muon-pair cross section at c.m. energies above 5.5 GeV. Complicated structure is found at intermediate energies. Charged-particle multiplicities and inclusive momentum distributions are presented. © 1982 The American Physical Society.