Measurement of K^{-}_{e3} branching ratio

Abstract

The branching fraction for the decay $K^{-} \to π^{0} e \bar ν$ is measured using in-flight decays detected with {\bf ISTRA+} setup working at the 25 GeV negative secondary beam of the U-70 PS:\linebreak $Br_{K_{e3}}= (5.124 \pm 0.009 (stat) \pm 0.029(norm) \pm 0.030(syst))%$. From this value the $|V_{us}|$ element of the CKM matrix is extracted, using previously measured $f_{+}(t)$ form factor: $|V_{us}|=0.227 \pm 0.002$. The results are in agreement with recent measurements by BNL E865, FNAL KTeV, KLOE.

10 pages, 8 figures