Abstract: Using 347: 5 fb(-1) of data recorded by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II electron-positron collider, 244 x 10(3) signal events for the D+ -> K- pi(+)e(+)nu(e) decay channel are analyzed. This decay mode is dominated by the (K) over bar*(892)(0) contribution. We determine the (K) over bar*(892)(0) parameters: m(K*(892)0) (895.4 +/- 0.2 +/- 0.2) MeV/c(2),Gamma(0)(K*(892)0) (46.5 +/- 0.3 +/- 0.2) MeV/c(2), and the Blatt-Weisskopf parameter r(BW) = 2.1 +/- 0.5 +/- 0.5 (GeV/c)(-1), where the first uncertainty comes from statistics and the second from systematic uncertainties. We also measure the parameters defining the corresponding hadronic form factors at q(2) = 0 (r(V) = V(0)/A(1)(0) = 1.463 +/- 0.031, r(2) = A(2)(0)/A(1)(0) = 0.801 +/- 0.020 +/- 0.020) and the value of the axial-vector pole mass parametrizing the q(2) variation of A(1) and A(2): m(A) (2.63 +/- 0.10 +/- 0.13) GeV/c(2). The S-wave fraction is equal to (5.79 +/- 0.16 +/- 0: 15)%. Other signal components correspond to fractions below 1%. Using the D+ -> K-pi(+)pi(+) channel as a normalization, we measure the D+ semileptonic branching fraction: B(D+ K-pi(+)e(+)nu(e)) (4.00 +/- 0: 03 +/- 0.04 +/- 0.09) x 10(-2), where the third uncertainty comes from external inputs. We then obtain the value of the hadronic form factor A(1) at q(2) 0: A(1)(0) 0.6200 +/- 0.0056 +/- 0.0065 +/- 0.0071. Fixing the P-wave parameters, we measure the phase of the S wave for several values of the K pi mass. These results confirm those obtained with K pi production at small momentum transfer in fixed target experiments.

Abstract: The study of pion production in nuclei is important for signal and background determinations in current and future neutrino oscillation experiments. The first step, however, is to understand the pion production reactions at the free nucleon level. We present an exhaustive study of the charged-current and neutral-current neutrino and antineutrino pion production off nucleons, paying special attention to the angular distributions of the outgoing pion. We show, using general arguments, that parity violation and time-reversal odd correlations in the weak differential cross sections are generated from the interference between different contributions to the hadronic current that are not relatively real. Next, we present a detailed comparison of three state-of-the-art, microscopic models for electroweak pion production off nucleons, and we also confront their predictions with polarized electron data, as a test of the vector content of these models. We also illustrate the importance of carrying out a comprehensive test at the level of outgoing pion angular distributions, going beyond comparisons done for partially integrated cross sections, where model differences cancel to a certain extent. Finally, we observe that all charged and neutral current distributions show sizable anisotropies, and identify channels for which parity-violating effects are clearly visible. Based on the above results, we conclude that the use of isotropic distributions for the pions in the center of mass of the final pion-nucleon system, as assumed by some of the Monte Carlo event generators, needs to be improved by incorporating the findings of microscopic calculations.