References

[1]

Heavy Flavor Averaging Group, D. Asner et al., “Averages of b-hadron, c-hadron, and τ-lepton properties,” arXiv:1010.1589 [hep-ex].

[2]

Belle Collaboration, K. Belous et al., “Measurement of the τ-lepton lifetime at Belle,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 112 (2014) 031801, arXiv:1310.8503 [hep-ex].

[3]

Heavy Flavor Averaging Group, Y. Amhis et al., “Averages of b-hadron, c-hadron, and τ-lepton properties as of early 2012,” arXiv:1207.1158 [hep-ex].

[4]

Particle Data Group, K. Nakamura et al., “Review of particle physics,” J. Phys. G37 (2010) 075021. and 2011 partial update for the 2012 edition.

[5]

Particle Data Group, “PDG Identifiers.” web page, 2014. http://pdg.lbl.gov/2014/pdgid/PDGIdentifiers.html.

[6]

BaBar Collaboration, J. P. Lees et al., “Study of high-multiplicity 3-prong and 5-prong tau decays at BaBar,” Phys. Rev. D86 (2012) 092010, arXiv:1209.2734 [hep-ex].

[7]

BaBar Collaboration, B. Aubert et al., “Measurement of the τ⁻ → η π⁻ π π⁻ ν_τ Branching Fraction and a Search for a Second-Class Current in the τ⁻ → η^′(958) π⁻ ν_τ Decay,” Phys. Rev. D77 (2008) 112002, arXiv:0803.0772 [hep-ex].

[8]

BaBar Collaboration, B. Aubert et al., “Study of the τ⁻ → 3h⁻ 2h⁺ ν_τ decay,” Phys. Rev. D72 (2005) 072001, arXiv:hep-ex/0505004 [hep-ex].

[9]

BaBar Collaboration, J. P. Lees et al., “The branching fraction of τ⁻ → π⁻ K_S⁰ K_S⁰ (π⁰) ν_τ decays,” Phys. Rev. D86 (2012) 092013, arXiv:1208.0376 [hep-ex].

[10]

Belle Collaboration, S. Ryu et al., “Measurements of Branching Fractions of τ Lepton Decays with one or more K_S⁰,” Phys. Rev. D89 (2014) 072009, arXiv:1402.5213 [hep-ex].

[11]

Belle Collaboration, S. Ryu, “Measurement of the branching fractions for τ⁻→ π⁻K_Sπ⁰ν_τ and τ⁻→ K⁻K_Sπ⁰ν_τ ,” Nucl.Phys.Proc.Suppl. 225-227 (2012) 179–183.

[12]

Belle Collaboration, D. Epifanov et al., “Study of tau- –> K(S) pi- nu(tau) decay at Belle,” Phys. Lett. B654 (2007) 65–73, arXiv:0706.2231 [hep-ex].

[13]

ALEPH Collaboration, R. Barate et al., “Study of tau decays involving kaons, spectral functions and determination of the strange quark mass,” Eur. Phys. J. C11 (1999) 599–618, arXiv:hep-ex/9903015 [hep-ex].

[14]

CLEO Collaboration, A. Anastassov et al., “Study of tau decays to six pions and neutrino,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 (2001) 4467–4471, arXiv:hep-ex/0010025 [hep-ex].

[15]

CLEO Collaboration, J. E. Bartelt et al., “First observation of the decay tau- –> K- eta tau-neutrino,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 76 (1996) 4119–4123.

[16]

ALEPH Collaboration, D. Buskulic et al., “A Study of tau decays involving eta and omega mesons,” Z. Phys. C74 (1997) 263–273.

[17]

Particle Data Group, J. Beringer et al., “Review of Particle Physics (RPP),” Phys. Rev. D86 (2012) 010001. and 2013 partial update for the 2014 edition.

[18]

ALEPH Collaboration, S. Schael et al., “Branching ratios and spectral functions of tau decays: Final ALEPH measurements and physics implications,” Phys. Rept. 421 (2005) 191–284, arXiv:hep-ex/0506072 [hep-ex]. HFAG-tau uses measurements of τ → h X and τ → K X and obtains τ → π X by difference; the measurement of B( τ⁻ → 3h⁻ 2h⁺ π⁰ ν_τ (ex. K⁰)) has been read as (2.1 ± 0.7 ± 0.6) × 10⁻⁴ whereas PDG11 uses (2.1 ± 0.7 ± 0.9) × 10⁻⁴.

[19]

DELPHI Collaboration, P. Abreu et al., “Measurements of the leptonic branching fractions of the tau,” Eur. Phys. J. C10 (1999) 201–218.

[20]

L3 Collaboration, M. Acciarri et al., “Measurement of the τ branching fractions into leptons,” Phys. Lett. B507 (2001) 47–60, arXiv:hep-ex/0102023 [hep-ex].

[21]

OPAL Collaboration, G. Abbiendi et al., “A Measurement of the tau- –> mu- anti-nu(mu) nu(tau) branching ratios,” Phys. Lett. B551 (2003) 35–48, arXiv:hep-ex/0211066 [hep-ex].

[22]

ARGUS Collaboration, H. Albrecht et al., “Measurement of exclusive one prong and inclusive three prong branching ratios of the tau lepton,” Z. Phys. C53 (1992) 367–374.

[23]

BaBar Collaboration, B. Aubert et al., “Measurements of Charged Current Lepton Universality and |V(us)| using Tau Lepton Decays to e- nu(e)-bar nu(tau), mu-bar nu(mu)-bar nu(tau), pi- nu(tau) and K- nu(tau),” Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 (2010) 051602, arXiv:0912.0242 [hep-ex].

[24]

CLEO Collaboration, A. Anastassov et al., “Experimental test of lepton universality in tau decay,” Phys. Rev. D55 (1997) 2559–2576. erratum ibid D58, 119903 (1998).

[25]

OPAL Collaboration, G. Abbiendi et al., “A Measurement of the tau- –> e- anti-neutrino(e) neutrino(tau) branching ratio,” Phys. Lett. B447 (1999) 134–146, arXiv:hep-ex/9812017 [hep-ex].

[26]

DELPHI Collaboration, P. Abreu et al., “A Study of the decays of tau leptons produced on the Z resonance at LEP,” Z. Phys. C55 (1992) 555–568.

[27]

L3 Collaboration, M. Acciarri et al., “Measurement of exclusive branching fractions of hadronic one space prong tau decays,” Phys. Lett. B345 (1995) 93–102.

[28]

OPAL Collaboration, G. Alexander et al., “Measurement of branching ratios and tau polarization from tau –> e neutrino anti-neutrino , tau –> mu neutrino anti-neutrino, and tau –> pi (K) neutrino decays at LEP,” Phys. Lett. B266 (1991) 201–217.

[29]

DELPHI Collaboration, J. Abdallah et al., “A Measurement of the tau hadronic branching ratios,” Eur. Phys. J. C46 (2006) 1–26, arXiv:hep-ex/0603044 [hep-ex].

[30]

OPAL Collaboration, K. Ackerstaff et al., “Measurement of the one prong hadronic tau branching ratios at LEP,” Eur. Phys. J. C4 (1998) 193–206, arXiv:hep-ex/9801029 [hep-ex].

[31]

ALEPH Collaboration, R. Barate et al., “One prong tau decays with kaons,” Eur. Phys. J. C10 (1999) 1–18, arXiv:hep-ex/9903014 [hep-ex].

[32]

CLEO Collaboration, M. Battle et al., “Measurement of Cabibbo suppressed decays of the tau lepton,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 73 (1994) 1079–1083, arXiv:hep-ph/9403329 [hep-ph].

[33]

DELPHI Collaboration, P. Abreu et al., “Charged kaon production in tau decays at LEP,” Phys. Lett. B334 (1994) 435–449.

[34]

OPAL Collaboration, G. Abbiendi et al., “A Study of one prong tau decays with a charged kaon,” Eur. Phys. J. C19 (2001) 653–665, arXiv:hep-ex/0009017 [hep-ex].

[35]

Belle Collaboration, M. Fujikawa et al., “High-Statistics Study of the tau- –> pi- pi0 nu(tau) Decay,” Phys. Rev. D78 (2008) 072006, arXiv:0805.3773 [hep-ex].

[36]

CLEO Collaboration, M. Artuso et al., “A Measurement of the branching fraction Beta (tau+- –> h+- pi0 tau-neutrino),” Phys. Rev. Lett. 72 (1994) 3762–3766, arXiv:hep-ph/9404310 [hep-ph].

[37]

BaBar Collaboration, B. Aubert et al., “Measurement of the τ⁻ → K⁻ π⁰ ν_τ branching fraction,” Phys. Rev. D76 (2007) 051104, arXiv:0707.2922 [hep-ex].

[38]

OPAL Collaboration, G. Abbiendi et al., “Measurement of the strange spectral function in hadronic tau decays,” Eur. Phys. J. C35 (2004) 437–455, arXiv:hep-ex/0406007 [hep-ex].

[39]

CLEO Collaboration, M. Procario et al., “Tau decays with one charged particle plus multiple pi0s,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 70 (1993) 1207–1211.

[40]

ALEPH Collaboration, R. Barate et al., “K0(S) production in tau decays,” Eur. Phys. J. C4 (1998) 29–45. http://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/346304.

[41]

OPAL Collaboration, R. Akers et al., “Measurements of the inclusive branching ratios of tau leptons to K0(s) and charged K* (892),” Phys. Lett. B339 (1994) 278–292.

[42]

CLEO Collaboration, T. Coan et al., “Decays of tau leptons to final states containing K(s)0 mesons,” Phys. Rev. D53 (1996) 6037–6053.

[43]

BaBar Collaboration, B. Aubert et al., “Measurement of B(τ⁻ → K⁰ π⁻ ν_τ) using the BaBar detector,” Nucl. Phys. Proc. Suppl. 189 (2009) 193–198, arXiv:0808.1121 [hep-ex]. contributed to the 34th International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP 2008), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 30 Jul - 5 Aug 2008.

[44]

L3 Collaboration, M. Acciarri et al., “One prong tau decays with neutral kaons,” Phys. Lett. B352 (1995) 487–497.

[45]

OPAL Collaboration, G. Abbiendi et al., “Tau decays with neutral kaons,” Eur. Phys. J. C13 (2000) 213–223, arXiv:hep-ex/9911029 [hep-ex].

[46]

BaBar Collaboration, S. Paramesvaran, “Selected topics in tau physics from BaBar,” arXiv:0910.2884 [hep-ex]. contributed to the proceedings of Meeting of the Division of Particles and Fields of the American Physical Society (DPF 2009), Detroit, Michigan, 26-31 Jul 2009.

[47]

CELLO Collaboration, H. Behrend et al., “Tau production and decay with the CELLO detector at PETRA,” Phys. Lett. B222 (1989) 163.

[48]

L3 Collaboration, B. Adeva et al., “Decay properties of tau leptons measured at the Z0 resonance,” Phys. Lett. B265 (1991) 451–461.

[49]

TPC/Two Gamma Collaboration, H. Aihara et al., “Measurement of τ branching ratios,” Phys. Rev. D35 (1987) 1553.

[50]

L3 Collaboration, P. Achard et al., “Measurement of the topological branching fractions of the τ lepton at LEP,” Phys. Lett. B519 (2001) 189–198, arXiv:hep-ex/0107055 [hep-ex].

[51]

OPAL Collaboration, R. Akers et al., “Measurement of the tau- –> h- h+ h- tau-neutrino and tau- –> h- h+ h- >= 1 pi0 tau-neutrino branching ratios,” Z. Phys. C68 (1995) 555–568.

[52]

CLEO Collaboration, R. Balest et al., “Measurements of the decays tau- –> h- h+ h- tau-neutrino and tau- –> h- h+ h- pi0 tau-neutrino,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 75 (1995) 3809–3813.

[53]

BaBar Collaboration, B. Aubert et al., “Exclusive branching fraction measurements of semileptonic tau decays into three charged hadrons, tau- –> phi pi- nu(tau) and tau- –> phi K- nu(tau),” Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 (2008) 011801, arXiv:0707.2981 [hep-ex].

[54]

Belle Collaboration, M. Lee et al., “Measurement of the branching fractions and the invariant mass distributions for τ⁻ → h⁻h⁺h⁻ν_τ decays,” Phys. Rev. D81 (2010) 113007, arXiv:1001.0083 [hep-ex]. HFAG-tau uses more detailed and numerically precise information on errors and correlations that has been privately provided by the Belle collaboration; the errors have been symmetrized.

[55]

CLEO Collaboration, R. A. Briere et al., “Branching fractions of tau leptons decays to three charged hadrons,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 90 (2003) 181802, arXiv:hep-ex/0302028 [hep-ex].

[56]

CLEO Collaboration, K. Edwards et al., “Resonant structure of tau –> three pi pi0 neutrino(tau) and tau –> omega pi neutrino(tau) decays,” Phys. Rev. D61 (2000) 072003, arXiv:hep-ex/9908024 [hep-ex].

[57]

CLEO Collaboration, D. Bortoletto et al., “Measurement of the decay tau- –> pi- pi+ pi- 2 pi0 tau-neutrino,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 71 (1993) 1791–1795.

[58]

CLEO Collaboration, S. Richichi et al., “Study of three prong hadronic tau decays with charged kaons,” Phys. Rev. D60 (1999) 112002, arXiv:hep-ex/9810026 [hep-ex].

[59]

TPC/Two Gamma Collaboration, D. A. Bauer et al., “Measurement of the kaon content of three prong tau decays,” Phys. Rev. D50 (1994) 13–17.

[60]

ALEPH Collaboration, R. Barate et al., “Three prong tau decays with charged kaons,” Eur. Phys. J. C1 (1998) 65–79.

[61]

CLEO Collaboration, K. E. Arms et al., “Study of tau decays to four-hadron final states with kaons,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 94 (2005) 241802, arXiv:hep-ex/0501042 [hep-ex].

[62]

OPAL Collaboration, G. Abbiendi et al., “A Study of three prong tau decays with charged kaons,” Eur. Phys. J. C13 (2000) 197–212, arXiv:hep-ex/9908013 [hep-ex].

[63]

CLEO Collaboration, D. Gibaut et al., “Study of the five charged pion decay of the tau lepton,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 73 (1994) 934–938.

[64]

B. Bylsma, S. Abachi, P. S. Baringer, R. DeBonte, D. Koltick, et al., “Limit on tau decay to seven charged particles,” Phys. Rev. D35 (1987) 2269.

[65]

ARGUS Collaboration, H. Albrecht et al., “An Improved Upper Limit on the tau-neutrino Mass from the Decay tau- –> pi- pi- pi- pi+ pi+ tau-neutrino,” Phys. Lett. B202 (1988) 149.

[66]

OPAL Collaboration, K. Ackerstaff et al., “Measurement of tau branching ratios to five charged hadrons,” Eur. Phys. J. C8 (1999) 183–189, arXiv:hep-ex/9808011 [hep-ex].

[67]

Belle Collaboration, K. Inami et al., “Precise measurement of hadronic tau-decays with an eta meson,” Phys. Lett. B672 (2009) 209–218, arXiv:0811.0088 [hep-ex].

[68]

CLEO Collaboration, M. Artuso et al., “Measurement of tau decays involving eta mesons,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 69 (1992) 3278–3281.

[69]

BaBar Collaboration, P. del Amo Sanchez et al., “Studies of tau- –> eta K-nu and tau- –> eta pi- nu(tau) at BaBar and a search for a second-class current,” Phys. Rev. D83 (2011) 032002, arXiv:1011.3917 [hep-ex].

[70]

CLEO Collaboration, M. Bishai et al., “First observation of the decay tau- –> K*- eta tau-neutrino,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 82 (1999) 281–285, arXiv:hep-ex/9809012 [hep-ex].

[71]

CLEO Collaboration, P. S. Baringer et al., “Production of eta and omega mesons in tau decay and a search for second class currents,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 59 (1987) 1993.

[72]

ALEPH Collaboration, D. Buskulic et al., “Tau hadronic branching ratios,” Z. Phys. C70 (1996) 579–608.

[73]

Particle Data Group, K. Olive et al., “Review of particle physics,” Chin. Phys. C38 (2014) 090001.

[74]

W. Marciano and A. Sirlin, “Electroweak Radiative Corrections to tau Decay,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 61 (1988) 1815–1818.

[75]

R. Decker and M. Finkemeier, “Radiative corrections to the decay tau –> pi (K) tau-neutrino. 2,” Phys. Lett. B334 (1994) 199–202.

[76]

M. Davier, A. Hocker, and Z. Zhang, “The Physics of hadronic tau decays,” Rev. Mod. Phys. 78 (2006) 1043–1109, arXiv:hep-ph/0507078 [hep-ph].

[77]

M. Antonelli, V. Cirigliano, G. Isidori, F. Mescia, M. Moulson, et al., “An Evaluation of |V_us| and precise tests of the Standard Model from world data on leptonic and semileptonic kaon decays,” Eur. Phys. J. C69 (2010) 399–424, arXiv:1005.2323 [hep-ph].

[78]

E. Gamiz, M. Jamin, A. Pich, J. Prades, and F. Schwab, “|V(us)| and m(s) from hadronic tau decays,” Nucl. Phys. Proc. Suppl. 169 (2007) 85–89, arXiv:hep-ph/0612154.

[79]

E. Gamiz, M. Jamin, A. Pich, J. Prades, and F. Schwab, “Theoretical progress on the Vus determination from tau decays,” PoS KAON (2008) 008, arXiv:0709.0282 [hep-ph].

[80]

K. Maltman, “A Critical look at V_us determinations from hadronic τ decay data,” Nucl. Phys. Proc. Suppl. 218 (2011) 146–151, arXiv:1011.6391 [hep-ph].

[81]

J. C. Hardy and I. S. Towner, “Superallowed 0+ to 0+ nuclear beta decays: A new survey with precision tests of the conserved vector current hypothesis and the standard model,” Phys. Rev. C79 (2009) 055502, arXiv:0812.1202 [nucl-ex].

[82]

K. Maltman. Private communication, 2014.

[83]

S. Aoki, Y. Aoki, C. Bernard, T. Blum, G. Colangelo, et al., “Review of lattice results concerning low-energy particle physics,” Eur. Phys. J. C74 no. 9, (2014) 2890, arXiv:1310.8555 [hep-lat].

[84]

P. J. Mohr, B. N. Taylor, and D. B. Newell, “CODATA Recommended Values of the Fundamental Physical Constants: 2010,” Rev. Mod. Phys. 84 (2012) 1527–1605, arXiv:1203.5425 [physics.atom-ph].

[85]

Belle Collaboration, K. Hayasaka et al., “New search for tau –> mu gamma and tau –> e gamma decays at Belle,” Phys. Lett. B666 (2008) 16–22, arXiv:0705.0650 [hep-ex].

[86]

BaBar Collaboration, B. Aubert et al., “Searches for Lepton Flavor Violation in the Decays tau+- –> e+- gamma and tau+- –> mu+- gamma,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 104 (2010) 021802, arXiv:0908.2381 [hep-ex].

[87]

Belle Collaboration, K. Hayasaka, “Tau lepton physics at Belle,” J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 335 (2011) 012029.

[88]

BaBar Collaboration, B. Aubert et al., “Search for Lepton Flavor Violating Decays τ^±→ ℓ^±π⁰, ℓ^±η, ℓ^±η^′,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 (2007) 061803, arXiv:hep-ex/0610067 [hep-ex].

[89]

Belle Collaboration, Y. Miyazaki et al., “Search for Lepton Flavor Violating tau- Decays into ℓ-K0s and ℓ-K0sK0s,” Phys. Lett. B692 (2010) 4–9, arXiv:1003.1183 [hep-ex].

[90]

BaBar Collaboration, B. Aubert et al., “Search for Lepton Flavor Violating Decays tau –> l- K0(s) with the BABAR Experiment,” Phys. Rev. D79 (2009) 012004, arXiv:0812.3804 [hep-ex].

[91]

Belle Collaboration, Y. Miyazaki et al., “Search for Lepton-Flavor-Violating tau Decays into Lepton and f0(980) Meson,” Phys. Lett. B672 (2009) 317–322, arXiv:0810.3519 [hep-ex].

[92]

Belle Collaboration, Y. Miyazaki, “Search for Lepton-Flavor-Violating tau Decays into a Lepton and a Vector Meson,” Phys. Lett. B699 (2011) 251–257, arXiv:1101.0755 [hep-ex].

[93]

BaBar Collaboration, B. Aubert et al., “Improved limits on lepton flavor violating tau decays to l phi, l rho, l K* and l anti-K*,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 103 (2009) 021801, arXiv:0904.0339 [hep-ex].

[94]

BaBar Collaboration, B. Aubert et al., “Search for lepton flavor violating decays tau+- –> l+- omega (l = e, mu),” Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 (2008) 071802, arXiv:0711.0980 [hep-ex].

[95]

Belle Collaboration, K. Hayasaka et al., “Search for Lepton Flavor Violating Tau Decays into Three Leptons with 719 Million Produced Tau+Tau- Pairs,” Phys. Lett. B687 (2010) 139–143, arXiv:1001.3221 [hep-ex].

[96]

BaBar Collaboration, J. P. Lees et al., “Limits on tau Lepton-Flavor Violating Decays in three charged leptons,” Phys. Rev. D81 (2010) 111101, arXiv:1002.4550 [hep-ex].

[97]

LHCb Collaboration, R. Aaij et al., “Search for the lepton flavour violating decay τ⁻→ µ⁻µ⁺µ⁻,” arXiv:1409.8548 [hep-ex].

[98]

Belle Collaboration, Y. Miyazaki et al., “Search for Lepton-Flavor-Violating and Lepton-Number-Violating τ → ℓ h h^′ Decay Modes,” Phys. Lett. B719 (2013) 346–353, arXiv:1206.5595 [hep-ex].

[99]

BaBar Collaboration, B. Aubert et al., “Search for lepton-flavor and lepton-number violation in the decay τ⁻ → ℓ^∓h^±h^{′ −},” Phys. Rev. Lett. 95 (2005) 191801, arXiv:hep-ex/0506066 [hep-ex].

[100]

Belle Collaboration, K. Hayasaka, “Recent LFV results on tau lepton from Belle,” Nucl.Phys.Proc.Suppl. 225-227 (2012) 169–172.

[101]

BaBar Collaboration, G. Lafferty, “Lepton flavour violation and baryon number non-conservation in τ⁻ → Λ + h ,” Nucl. Phys. Proc. Suppl. 169 (2007) 186–191.

[102]

LHCb Collaboration, R. Aaij et al., “Searches for violation of lepton flavour and baryon number in tau lepton decays at LHCb,” Phys. Lett. B724 (2013) 36–45, arXiv:1304.4518 [hep-ex].

[103]

A. L. Read, “Presentation of search results: The CL(s) technique,” J.Phys. G28 (2002) 2693–2704.

[104]

S. Banerjee, B. Pietrzyk, J. M. Roney, and Z. Was, “Tau and muon pair production cross-sections in electron- positron annihilations at √s = 10.58 GeV,” Phys. Rev. D77 (2008) 054012, arXiv:0706.3235 [hep-ph].

[105]

CDF Collaboration, T. Junk, “Sensitivity, Exclusion and Discovery with Small Signals, Large Backgrounds, and Large Systematic Uncertainties.” CDF note 8128, 2007. http://www-cdf.fnal.gov/physics/statistics/notes/cdf8128_mclimit_csm_v2.pdf.