Precision Measurement of the Mass of the $τ$ Lepton

Abstract

An energy scan near the $τ$ pair production threshold has been performed using the BESIII detector. About $24$ pb$^{-1}$ of data, distributed over four scan points, was collected. This analysis is based on $τ$ pair decays to $ee$, $eμ$, $eh$, $μμ$, $μh$, $hh$, $eρ$, $μρ$ and $πρ$ final states, where $h$ denotes a charged $π$ or $K$. The mass of the $τ$ lepton is measured from a maximum likelihood fit to the $τ$ pair production cross section data to be $m_τ = (1776.91\pm0.12 ^{+0.10}_{-0.13}$) MeV/$c^2$, which is currently the most precise value in a single measurement.

13 pages, 7 figures