Study of the five-charged-pion decay of the τ lepton

The branching fractions for the five-charged-particle decays of the τ lepton have been measured in e+e- annihilations using the CLEO II detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring. Assuming all charged particles to be pions, the results are B(3π-2π+0 neutrals ντ)=(0.097±0. 005±0.011)%, B(3π-2π+ντ)=(0.077±0.005 ±0.009)%, B(3π-2π+π0ντ)=(0.019±0.004±0.004) %, and B(3π-2π+2π0ντ)<0.011% at the 90% C.L. B(3π-2π-π0ντ) is measured for the first time by exclusive π0 reconstruction. The results are compared with the predictions from the partially conserved-axial-current and conserved-vector-current hypotheses assuming isospin invariance. © 1994 The American Physical Society.