Rate Measurement of $D^{0}\to K^{+}\pi^{-}\pi^{0}$ and Constraints on $D^{0} - \overline{D^{0}}$ Mixing

Abstract

We present an observation and rate measurement of the decay D0 -> K+pi-pi0 produced in 9/fb of e+e- collisions near the Upsilon(4S) resonance. The signal is inconsistent with an upward fluctuation of the background by 4.9 standard deviations. We measured the rate of D0 -> K+pi-pi0 normalized to the rate of D0bar -> K+pi-pi0 to be 0.0043 +0.0011 -0.0010 (stat) +/- 0.0007 (syst). This decay can be produced by doubly-Cabibbo-suppressed decays or by the D0 evolving into a D0bar through mixing, followed by a Cabibbo-favored decay to K+pi-pi0. We also found the CP asymmetry A=(8 +25 -22)% to be consistent with zero.Comment: 10 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN