Search for Lepton Flavor Violation in the Decay τ±→e±γ

Abstract

A search for the nonconservation of lepton flavor in the decay τ ± → e ± γ has been performed with 2.07 × 10 8 e + e − → τ + τ − events collected by the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP II storage ring at a center-of-mass energy near 10.58 GeV. We find no evidence for a signal and set an upper limit on the branching ratio of B ( τ ± → e ± γ ) < 1.1 × 10 − 7 at 90% confidence level.