D meson

The D mesons are the lightest particle containing charm quarks. They are often studied to gain knowledge on the weak interaction.[1] The strange D mesons (D_s) were called the "F mesons" prior to 1986.

D meson

Composition	D^+ : c d D^− : d c D^0 : c u D^0 : u c D^+ s: c s D^− s: s c
Statistics	Bosonic
Interactions	Strong, weak, electromagnetic, gravitational
Symbol	D^+ , D^− , D^0 , D^0 , D^+ s, D^− s
Mass	D^± : 1869.62±0.20 MeV/c^2 D^0 / D^0 : 1864.84±0.17 MeV/c^2 D^± s: 1968.47±0.33 MeV/c^2
Electric charge	D^± , D^± s: ±1 e D^0 , D^0 : 0 e

Overview

The D mesons were discovered in 1976 by the Mark I detector at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.[2]

Since the D mesons are the lightest mesons containing a single charm quark (or antiquark), they must change the charm (anti)quark into an (anti)quark of another type to decay. Such transitions involve a change of the internal charm quantum number, and can take place only via the weak interaction. In D mesons, the charm quark preferentially changes into a strange quark via an exchange of a W particle, therefore the D meson preferentially decays into kaons (
K
) and pions (
π
).[1]

List of D mesons

D mesons

Particle name	Particle symbol	Antiparticle symbol	Quark content[3]	Rest mass (MeV/c^2)	I^G	J^PC	S	C	B'	Mean lifetime (s)	Commonly decays to (>5% of decays)
D meson[4]	D^+	D^−	c d	1869.62±0.20	1/2	0^−	0	+1	0	(1.040±0.007)×10^−12	See D^+ decay modes
D meson[5]	D^0	D^0	c u	1864.84±0.17	1/2	0^−	0	+1	0	(4.101±0.015)×10^−13	See D^0 decay modes
Strange D meson[6]	D^+ s	D^− s	c s	1968.47±0.33	0	0^−	+1	+1	0	(5.00±0.07)×10^−13	See D^+ s decay modes
Excited D meson[7]	D^∗+ (2010)	D^∗− (2010)	c d	2010.27±0.17	1/2	1^−	0	+1	0	(6.9±1.9)×10^−21^^[a]	D^0 + π^+ or D^+ + π^0
Excited D meson[8]	D^∗0 (2007)	D^∗0 (2007)	c u	2006.97±0.19	1/2	1^−	0	+1	0	>3.1×10^−22^^[a]	D^0 + π^0 or D^0 + γ

^[a] ^ PDG reports the resonance width (Γ). Here the conversion τ = ħ/Γ is given instead.

See also

• List of mesons
• List of particles
• Timeline of particle discoveries

References

1. D Meson
2. http://www.kudryavtsev.staff.shef.ac.uk/phy466/charmed-mesons_files/charmed-mesons.ppt%5B%5D
3. C. Amsler et al.. (2008): Quark Model
4. C. Amsler et al.. (2008): Particle listings –
   D^±
   
5. C. Amsler et al.. (2008): Particle listings –
   D⁰
   
6. N. Nakamura et al.. (2010): Particle listings –
   D^±
   _s
7. C. Amsler et al.. (2008): Particle listings –
   D^∗±
   (2010)
8. C. Amsler et al.. (2008): Particle listings –
   D^∗0
   (2007)