Measurement of the Dalitz plot slope parameters of the K±→π±π+π− decay

The distribution of the K±→π±π+π− decays in the Dalitz plot has been measured by the NA48/2 experiment at the CERN SPS with a sample of 4.71×108 fully reconstructed events. With the standard Particle Data Group parameterization the following values of the slope parameters were obtained: g=(−21.134±0.017)%, h=(1.848±0.040)%, k=(−0.463±0.014)%. The quality and statistical accuracy of the data have allowed an improvement in precision by more than an order of magnitude, and are such as to warrant a more elaborate theoretical treatment, including pion-pion rescattering, which is in preparation.