Four-pion production in e+ e- annihilation

Abstract

We calculate the processes e+ e- -> 4 pions and tau -> nu_tau + 4 pions to O(p^4) in the low-energy expansion of the standard model. The chiral amplitudes of O(p^4) can be extended via resonance exchange to energies around 1 GeV. Higher-order effects have been included in the form of omega, a_1 and double rho exchange and by performing a resummation of the pion form factor. The predicted cross sections and the branching ratios BR(rho -> 4 pions) are in good agreement with available data.

Comments: 24 pages, 8 figures, small changes in the text, results and conclusions unchanged, version to appear in EPJC