Study of the electromagnetic Dalitz decay $J/\psi \to e^+e^- \pi^0$

We study the electromagnetic Dalitz decay $J/\psi \to e^+e^- \pi^0$ using $(10087 \pm 44) \times 10^6$ $J/\psi$ events collected by the \bes detector. The di-electron-invariant-mass dependent transition form factor of this decay is explored for the first time. A significant resonant structure corresponding to the $\rho/\omega$ resonance is observed, which cannot be described by existing theoretical models, due to contributions from the isospin-conserving $J/\psi \to \rho \pi^0$ and isospin-volating $J/\psi \to \omega \pi^0$ decays. The observed $\rho$--$\omega$ interference is consistent with that of the pion form factor but features a relatively narrow $\rho$ peak. By taking into account the contribution of this resonant structure, the branching fraction of $J/\psi \to e^+e^- \pi^0$ in the full $e^+e^-$ invariant mass spectrum range is also measured for the first time to be $(8.06 \pm 0.31 (\rm{stat}) \pm 0.38 (\rm{syst}))\times 10^{-7}$, which is two times larger than the prediction of the Vector Meson Dominance model due to the observed resonant contribution of $\rho/\omega$ resonances.
Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett