Inclusive production of neutral vector mesons in hadronic Z decays

Data on the inclusive production of the neutral vector mesons ρ 0(770), ω(782), K*0(892), and φ(1020) in hadronic Z decays recorded with the ALEPH detector at LEP are presented and compared to Monte Carlo model predictions. Bose-Einstein effects are found to be important in extracting a reliable value for the ρ 0 production rate. An average ρ 0 multiplicity of 1.45±0.21 per event is obtained. The ω is detected via its three pion decay mode ω→π + π - π 0 and has a total rate of 1.07±0.14 per event. The multiplicity of the K*0 is 0.83±0.09, whilst that of the φ is 0.122±0.009, both measured using their charged decay modes. The measurements provide information on the relative production rates of vector and pseudoscalar mesons, as well as on the relative probabilities for the production of hadrons containing u, d, and s quarks.