Measurement of the D*(2010)+ meson width and the D*(2010)+ - D0 mass difference

7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. See paper for full list of authorsMeasurements of the mass difference \Delta m_0 between the D*(2010)+ and the D0 mesons and of the natural line width \Gamma of the transition D*(2010)+ -> D0 \pi+ are presented. The data were recorded with the BABAR detector at center-of-mass energies at and near the \Upsilon(4S) resonance, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of approximately 477 1/fb. The D0 meson is reconstructed in the decay modes D0 -> K-\pi+ and D0 -> K-\pi+\pi-\pi+. For the decay mode D0 -> K-\pi+ we obtain \Gamma = (83.4 +- 1.7 +- 1.5) keV and \Delta m_0 = (145 425.6 +- 0.6 +- 1.8) keV, where the quoted uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. For the D0 -> K-\pi+\pi-\pi+ mode we obtain \Gamma = (83.2 +- 1.5 +- 2.6) keV and \Delta m_0 = (145 426.6 +- 0.5 +- 2.0) keV. The combined measurements yield \Gamma = (83.3 +- 1.3 +- 1.4) keV and \Delta m_0 = (145 425.8 +- 0.5 +- 1.8) keV; the result for the width is approximately 12 times more precise than the current world average, while that for the mass difference is more precise by a factor of approximately 6