Production of the excited charm mesons D_1 and D^*_2 at HERA

Understand

The production of the excited charm mesons D_1(2420) and D^*_2(2460) in ep collisions has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 373 pb^{-1}.

• The masses of the neutral and charged states, the widths of the neutral states, and the helicity parameter of D_1(2420)^{0} were determined and compared with other measurements and with theoretical expectations.
• The measured helicity parameter of the D^0_1 allows for some mixing of S- and D-waves in its decay to D^{*\pm}\pi^{\mp}.
• The result is also consistent with a pure D-wave decay.