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# Observation of the ϕ→𝜋⁺𝜋⁻𝜋⁺𝜋⁻ Decay

## 1 Introduction

Production of four pions in $`e^+e^{}`$ annihilation is now well studied in the c.m. energy range 1.05 to 2.5 GeV (see  and references therein). Results on the measurements of the cross section of the reaction $`e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ in the energy range from 0.60 to 0.97 GeV as well as the probability of the $`\rho ^0`$ meson decay into the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ final state were recently presented by the CMD-2 group . However, the behavior of the cross section of the process $`e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ in the vicinity of the $`\varphi `$ meson has not been as well studied. In the previous experiments performed in Orsay  and in Novosibirsk  the cross section was measured at single points at $`E_{cm}m_\varphi `$. Because of the small data samples in these experiments, no detailed studies of the cross section structure in the $`\varphi `$ meson region could be made. Under the assumption that the visible cross section is due to the $`\varphi `$ decay, an upper limit was set on the value of the decay probability $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ . The intensity of this decay is of interest since it is twice suppressed, by G-parity and the OZI rule.

Two other rare $`\varphi `$ decays which violate the OZI rule are $`\varphi \eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ (also forbidden by G-parity) and $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$. A search for the decay $`\varphi \eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ based on part of the total data sample was performed by CMD-2  using the $`\eta \gamma \gamma `$ decay mode. No events of this decay were observed and an upper limit was placed. Earlier the CMD group set an upper limit for the branching ratio of the decay $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$ .

In 1992 the upgraded high luminosity collider VEPP-2M resumed its operation at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics in Novosibirsk . Two modern detectors CMD-2  and SND  started a series of experiments which include various high precision measurements in the c.m. energy range from the threshold of hadron production to 1.4 GeV. High data samples collected by both detectors in the $`\varphi `$ meson energy range allowed the first observation of various rare decay modes among which are G-parity and OZI rule suppressed decays to $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$  and $`\omega \pi ^0`$ .

In this paper we extend the analysis of the process $`e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ started by CMD-2 in Refs.  to the $`\varphi `$ meson c.m. energy range from 0.984 to 1.06 GeV. The high integrated luminosity allowed the observation of the clear interference pattern at $`E_{cm}m_\varphi `$ indicating the presence of the decay $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$. The same data sample was used to search for the decays $`\varphi \eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$.

## 2 Experiment and data analysis

Three scans of the energy range from 0.984 to 1.06 GeV were performed in winter 1997–1998. The scan step was 1 MeV near the $`\varphi `$ meson (1.016–1.023 GeV) and 6–10 MeV outside the resonance. Some luminosity has also been collected at 1.019 and 1.020 GeV before the main scans and at 1.017 and 1.020 GeV after them. For the final analysis data samples from the same energy points of different scans were combined.

The general purpose detector CMD-2 has been described in detail elsewhere . It consists of a drift chamber (DC)  and a proportional Z-chamber , both used for the trigger, and both inside a thin (0.4 $`X_0`$) superconducting solenoid with a field of 1 T.

The barrel calorimeter  which is placed outside the solenoid, consists of 892 CsI crystals of $`6\times 6\times 15`$ cm3 size and covers polar angles from $`46^{}`$ to $`134^{}`$. The energy resolution for photons is about 9% in the energy range from 50 to 600 MeV. The angular resolution is about 0.02 radians.

The end-cap calorimeter  which is placed inside the solenoid, consists of 680 BGO crystals of $`2.5\times 2.5\times 15`$ cm3 size and covers forward-backward polar angles from 16 to 49 and from 131 to 164. The energy and angular resolution varies from 8% to 4% and from 0.03 to 0.02 radians respectively for the photons in the energy range from 100 to 700 MeV.

The luminosity was determined from the events of Bhabha scattering at large angles .

The collider energy was roughly set $`(\delta E/E10^3)`$ by the dipole magnet currents. In the energy range 1.010 to 1.028 GeV of the main scans the beam energy was more precisely $`(\delta E/E10^4)`$ determined by measuring the average momentum $`p_{av}`$ of $`K^+K^{}`$ pairs in the DC: $`E^{K^+K^{}}=\sqrt{p_{av}^2+M_K^2}+\mathrm{\Delta }`$. Here $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is a correction for the contributions of kaon ionization losses inside the detector and radiative losses of initial electrons. Its magnitude depends on $`p_{av}`$ and varies from 5 to 3 MeV for $`p_{av}`$ in the range 80 to 130 MeV/c (see  for more detail). Then the effective beam energy at each energy point was determined by averaging $`E^{K^+K^{}}`$ weighted by the integrated luminosity:

$$E_i=\underset{j=1}{\overset{3}{}}L_{ij}E_{ij}^{K^+K^{}}/\underset{j=1}{\overset{3}{}}L_{ij},$$

where $`E_{ij}^{K^+K^{}}`$ and $`L_{ij}`$ are the kaon energy and the integrated luminosity measured at the $`i^{th}`$ energy point of the $`j^{th}`$ scan.

The first two columns of Table 1 present the corresponding energy values and integrated luminosities. The total integrated luminosity was $`11.63\text{pb}^1`$.

The analysis of the reaction $`e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ was performed similarly to our analysis described in . However, because of the completely different background situation, other methods of background suppression were used. Events with four charged tracks coming from the interaction region were selected:

* the impact parameter of each track $`r_{min}`$ is less than 1 cm
* the vertex coordinate along the beam axis $`z_{vert}`$ is within $`\pm 10`$ cm.

To have good reconstruction efficiency, tracks were also required to cross at least two superlayers of the drift chamber: $`|\mathrm{cos}\theta |<0.8`$.

For selected events a kinematic fit was performed, assuming that all tracks are pions and under the constraint that the sum of the 3-momenta $`_{i=1}^4\stackrel{}{p}_i=0`$. Then the requirement that the fit quality $`\chi _{4\pi }^2`$ / n.d.f. $`<`$ 100/3 was applied. This condition has high efficiency (about 95%) for the process under study and rejects about 70% of the background reactions:

$`\varphi `$ $``$ $`K_S^0K_L^0`$ (1)
and

$`\varphi `$ $``$ $`K^+K^{}.`$ (2)
Further analysis was performed using the normalized “apparent energy”:

$`\epsilon _{app}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{_{i=1}^4\sqrt{\stackrel{}{p}_i^2+m_\pi ^2}}{2E_{beam}}}.`$
Figure 1 shows the distribution of $`\epsilon _{app}`$ versus the minimum space angle between the tracks with the opposite charges $`\psi _{min}`$. A band with $`\epsilon _{app}1`$ corresponding to $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events is clearly observed in the region “a”. The lower part of the region “b” is populated by events from the process:

$`e^+e^{}`$ $``$ $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0,\pi ^0e^+e^{}\gamma ,`$ (3)
while events from the processes:

$`e^+e^{}`$ $``$ $`e^+e^{}\gamma ,`$ (4)
$`e^+e^{}`$ $``$ $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}\gamma `$ (5)
with the subsequent photon conversion into an $`e^+e^{}`$-pair at the beam pipe, fall into the upper part of the region “b”. Events of the $`\varphi `$ meson decay (1), where $`K_S^0`$ and $`K_L^0`$ decay to $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$ respectively, contribute to the region “c”. Events of another $`\varphi `$ meson decay (2), where products of kaon nuclear interactions scatter back to the drift chamber and induce two “extra” tracks, fall in the region “e”. Events with the decay of one of the kaons $`K^\pm \pi ^\pm \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ populate the region “d”. Thus, using the parameter $`\epsilon _{app}`$, we are able to separate events of the classes “c” and “d” from $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events, whereas events from the regions “b” and “e” constitute the background to the process under study.

To suppress the background from the process $`\varphi K^+K^{}`$ with the nuclear interaction of kaons, ionization losses $`dE/dx`$ of the tracks measured in the drift chamber  were used. Figure 2 shows the scatter plot of the ionization losses $`dE/dx`$ (in arbitrary units) versus the track momentum $`p`$ for positively (a) and negatively (b) charged tracks. A narrow vertical band with momentum $`p127`$ MeV/c and $`dE/dx`$ above 3000 in both Figures corresponds to events with charged kaons from the process (2). Thus, selection of events below the solid line effectively rejects events from both classes “d” and “e”. To estimate the number of remaining background events in class “e”, events of the process $`\varphi K^+K^{}`$, $`K^\pm \pi ^\pm \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ were selected using the conditions $`\epsilon <0.7`$ and $`\psi _{min}>1`$. Then the efficiency $`\epsilon _{dE/dx}^{K^\pm }`$ of such a cut was determined for these events. Since in class “e” both charged kaons are detected in the drift chamber, the probability of kaon misidentification is $`(\epsilon _{dE/dx}^{K^\pm })^2`$. Using this probability, the expected number of remaining background events was found to be $`N_{bg}^{K^+K^{}}<5`$.

Events of the reactions (3), (4) and (5) (region “b” in Fig. 1) with low momentum of $`e^\pm `$ tracks give a small tail in the lower left corner of Fig. 2. Selection of events above the dashed line suppresses the background from the processes with the photon conversion into an $`e^+e^{}`$ pair. Additional suppression of the process (4) is provided by the requirement $`\epsilon _{4e}<0.9`$, where the parameter $`\epsilon _{4e}=_{i=1}^4|\stackrel{}{p}_i|/2E_{beam}<0.9`$ is the normalized total energy assuming that all particles are electrons.

After that, using the conditions $`\psi _{min}>0.3`$ and $`|\epsilon _{app}1|<0.1`$, we selected our data sample of about 4200 events consisting mostly of the events of the process $`e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$. The number of remaining background events from the process (3) was estimated using the $`\psi _{min}`$ distribution in the region $`\epsilon _{app}>1.1`$ (see Fig. 1). This area is populated by events from the reactions (3), (4) and (5). Assuming that $`\psi _{min}`$ distributions have similar shape in the regions $`\epsilon _{app}>1.1`$ and $`\epsilon _{app}<1.1`$, we obtained $`N_{bg}^{3\pi }<80`$.

Figure 3 shows the distribution of the invariant mass $`M_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}}`$ for pairs of opposite charged pions versus the total momentum of the same pair $`P_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}}=|\stackrel{}{p}_{\pi ^+}+\stackrel{}{p}_\pi ^{}|`$ for the selected data sample (4 entries per event). The enhanced concentration of events in the region $`M_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}}m_{K_S^0}`$ and $`P_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}}P_{K_S^0}`$ is caused by the reaction (1), where $`K_S^0`$ decays to $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`K_L^0`$ decays to one of the semileptonic modes $`K_L^0\pi ^\pm e^{}\nu _e`$ or $`K_L^0\pi ^\pm \mu ^{}\nu _\mu `$. Here $`m_{K_S^0}`$=497.67 MeV  and $`P_{K_S^0}=\sqrt{E_{beam}^2m_{K_S^0}^2}`$ are the $`K_S^0`$ meson mass and momentum. To reject this type of the background we excluded events in which at least one of the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ pairs satisfies both of the following conditions:

$`|M_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}}m_{K_S^0}|`$ $`<`$ $`30\text{MeV}/c^2,`$
$`|P_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}}P_{K_S^0}|`$ $`<`$ $`30\text{MeV}/c.`$ (6)
The expected number of remaining background events from this process was estimated using the complete Monte Carlo simulation (MC) of the CMD-2 detector  and was found to be $`N_{bg}^{K_S^0K_L^0}<30`$.

## 3 Determination of cross section

At each energy the cross section of the process $`e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ was calculated using the formula:

$`\sigma _i`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{N_i}{L_i\epsilon _i(1+\delta _i)}},`$ (7)
where $`N_i`$ is the number of selected $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events, $`L_i`$ is the integrated luminosity, $`\epsilon _i`$ is the detection efficiency, and $`\delta _i`$ is the radiative correction at the $`i`$-th energy point.

The detection efficiency was determined from MC assuming the $`a_1(1260)\pi `$ quasi-twobody production mechanism, which clearly dominates at higher energy . Comparison of various experimental distributions with the simulation shows that the assumption of the $`a_1(1260)\pi `$ mechanism does not contradict the data. The detection efficiency decreases with energy, smoothly varying from 30% to 27%.

Radiative corrections were calculated according to . Since radiative corrections themselves depend on the energy behavior of the cross section, the calculation was performed by the iteration method. “Visible” values of the cross section (with $`\delta =0`$ in (7)) were used as the first approximation. Then the cross section was recalculated with the new values of the radiative corrections and the whole procedure was repeated until the convergence was reached. Figure 4 demonstrates the energy dependence of radiative corrections.

Table 1 presents the summary of the cross section calculations. Figure 5 shows the energy dependence of the cross section near the $`\varphi `$ meson. The obtained values of the cross sections measured below and above the $`\varphi `$ meson match our previous results well . Only statistical errors are shown in Fig. 5. The systematic uncertainty comes from the following sources:

* selection criteria and background suppression - 11%
* event reconstruction - 5%
* detection efficiency dependence on the production mechanism - 3%
* beam energy spread - 2%
* radiative corrections - 1.6%.
* luminosity determination - 1.5%

The overall systematic uncertainty was estimated to be $``$ 13%.

The energy dependence of the cross section shown in Fig. 5 demonstrates a clear interference pattern in the vicinity of the $`\varphi `$ meson. To describe the interference behavior we parameterize the cross section according to the following formula:

$`\sigma _{e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}}(E)`$ $`=`$ $`\sigma _0f(E)\left|1Z{\displaystyle \frac{m_\varphi \mathrm{\Gamma }_\varphi }{m_\varphi ^2E^2iE\mathrm{\Gamma }_\varphi }}\right|^2,`$ (8)
where $`E=2E_{beam}`$; $`\sigma _0`$ is the nonresonant cross section of the process $`e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ at $`E=m_\varphi `$; $`f(E)`$ is a smooth function describing the nonresonant behavior of the cross section and normalized to 1 at $`E=m_\varphi `$; $`m_\varphi `$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\varphi `$ are the $`\varphi `$ meson mass and width; and $`Z=|Z|e^{i\psi }`$ is a complex interference amplitude. The following values of the parameters were obtained from the fit with $`f(E)=e^{A(Em_\varphi )}`$ ($`A`$ is a slope parameter):

$`\sigma _0`$ $`=`$ $`1.114\pm 0.035\pm 0.056\text{nb},`$
$`ReZ`$ $`=`$ $`0.122\pm 0.027\pm 0.033,`$
$`ImZ`$ $`=`$ $`0.003\pm 0.025\pm 0.058.`$ (9)
The obtained value of $`\chi ^2`$/n.d.f. characterizing the fit quality was 8.31/12 corresponding to a 75% confidence level. Since the observed value of the resonance amplitude is about the same order ($`10\%`$) as the statistical errors in any one of the measured values of the cross section, the interference pattern in the cross section behavior could appear due to statistical fluctuations rather than the decay $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$. To check the consistency of the data with this assumption, we performed a fit with the amplitude $`|Z|`$ fixed to 0. The obtained $`\chi ^2`$/n.d.f. value was 27.90/12 corresponding to the 0.5% confidence level. Thus, we can really claim evidence for the decay $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$.

The first error in each fit parameter in (9) is statistical, while the second one is systematic. Table 2 lists the main sources of systematic uncertainties contributing to the overall systematic error of the fit parameters. Let us discuss some of these uncertainties in more detail.

The influence of the event selection procedure on the fit parameters was estimated in the following way. Three data samples were selected with an additional requirement for background suppression and variations of the criteria described in Section 2:

1. Application of a stricter requirement on the impact parameter of each track $`r_{min}<0.3`$ cm suppresses $``$ 80% of the background events from the reaction (1), leaving about 150 $`K_S^0K_L^0`$ events in the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ data sample
2. The probability $`W_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}}`$ for two tracks with the smallest angle between them to be pions was calculated (see  for more detail). The requirement $`W_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}}>0.5`$ rejects $``$ 70% of the background events from the processes (3)–(5)
3. Restriction $`\psi _{min}>1.5`$ suppresses the background from the reactions (3)–(5) to the level of a few events.

For all of these data samples the values of the cross section were calculated at each energy point and the energy dependence of the cross section was fit by the expression (8). The fit parameters thus obtained agree with the parameters (9) within the statistical errors. Deviations from the values (9) give an estimate for the systematic uncertainty due to the event selection. These estimates are shown in the first line of Table 2. The imaginary part of the interference amplitude $`ImZ`$ is very sensitive to the resonant background. Thus, the presence of events of the reactions (3) and (1) in the final data sample gives a major contribution (about 0.046) to the systematic uncertainty of this parameter. The calculation of radiative corrections  requires the value of the threshold energy $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$ for the detection of radiated photons. The uncertainty in $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$ gives about 1.6% contribution to the systematic error of $`\sigma _0`$. Uncertainties in the luminosity determination, detection and reconstruction efficiencies lead to systematic uncertainties in parameters $`\sigma _0`$, $`ReZ`$ and $`ImZ`$ comparable to statistical errors. The parameter $`\sigma _0`$ is sensitive to the choice of the function $`f(E)`$, which approximates the nonresonant behavior of the cross section in formula (8). A fit of the energy dependence of the cross section was performed with the linear function $`f(E)`$ instead of an exponential as in (9). The systematic error in $`\sigma _0`$ due to the choice of $`f(E)`$ was estimated to be about 3.8%.

Using real and imaginary parts $`ReZ`$ and $`ImZ`$ of the interference amplitude $`Z`$ the values of $`|Z|`$ and $`\psi `$ were calculated:

$`|Z|`$ $`=`$ $`0.122\pm 0.027\pm 0.033,`$
$`\psi `$ $`=`$ $`(1\pm 12\pm 27)^{}.`$
The branching ratio of the decay $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ can be calculated using the following expression:

$$Br(\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{})=\frac{\sigma _0|Z|^2}{\sigma _\varphi }=(3.93\pm 1.74\pm 2.14)10^6,$$

where $`\sigma _\varphi =12\pi Br(\varphi e^+e^{})/m_\varphi ^2=4224\pm 113`$ nb  is the cross section of the $`\varphi `$ meson production. This is the first measurement of this quantity, and it supersedes the upper limit on the branching ratio of 8.7 $`10^4`$ obtained in Orsay  as well as the upper limit of 1 $`10^4`$ placed by CMD-2 and based on part of the whole data sample .

## 4 Search for decays $`\varphi \eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and
$`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$

The same data sample of preselected events with four charged tracks was used for the search of the decays $`\varphi \eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$, $`\eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$ and $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$. In this analysis at least two photons detected in the calorimeter were required. The kinematic fit was performed taking into account energy — momentum conservation. In the reconstruction procedure all charged particles were assumed to be pions.

One of the main problems is additional (“fake”) photons induced by the products of nuclear interactions of charged pions in the detector material. The following simple method was used to suppress such fake photons. In the kinematic fit the energy resolution of photons was loosened to the value $`\sigma _{E_\gamma }=E_\gamma `$ \+ 20 MeV. Thus, the photon energy was allowed to vary in a wide range during the fit. Only two photons were included in the fit. For events with more than two detected photons, the fit was repeated with all possible pairs of photons and the pair with the smallest $`\chi _{4\pi 2\gamma }^2`$ characterizing the fit quality was selected. Events with the reconstructed photon energy below 30 MeV were rejected from the subsequent analysis. The following requirements were additionally applied: $`\chi _{4\pi 2\gamma }^2`$/ n.d.f. $`<`$ 10/4 and the invariant mass of the photon pair is near the $`\pi ^0`$ mass: $`|M_{\gamma \gamma }m_{\pi ^0}|<30`$ MeV.

The process (2) in which products of kaon nuclear interactions scatter back to the drift chamber and induce two extra tracks or one of the kaons decays via the $`K^\pm \pi ^\pm \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ channel, accompanied by fake photons, can contribute to the background for the decays under study. Another source of the background is the reaction

$`e^+e^{}\omega \pi ^0,\omega \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$ (10)
with the Dalitz decay of one of the neutral pions. The main background, however, comes from the process (1) followed by the $`K_S^0\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`K_L^0\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$ decays.

The same restrictions on the dE/dx of the tracks as those applied in the search for the decay $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ (see Fig. 2), were used to suppress the background from the decay (2).

To reject the background from the reaction (10), we searched for a pair oppositely charged particles with the minimum space angle $`\psi _{min}`$ between the tracks. Assuming this pair to be $`e^+e^{}`$ and taking the photon with the smaller energy, the invariant mass $`M_{e^+e^{}\gamma _2}`$ was calculated. The requirements $`\psi _{min}>`$ 0.3 and $`M_{e^+e^{}\gamma _2}>`$ 170 MeV reduced the background from the reaction $`e^+e^{}\omega \pi ^0`$ to a negligible level: $`N_{\omega \pi ^0}<`$ 0.1.

To reject the background from the decay (1) events in which at least one of the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ pairs satisfies the conditions (6) were excluded. Additional suppression of $`K_S^0K_L^0`$ events was achieved by restricting the impact parameter of each track: $`r_{min}<0.3`$ cm. Only $`N_{\eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}}^{vis}=2`$ candidate events survive after applying these selection criteria.

Events for which the impact parameter of at least one track has the value $`r_{min}>`$ 0.3 cm are mostly coming from the decay (1). The observed number of such events satisfying all above criteria but $`r_{min}<`$ 0.3 cm is $`N_{K_S^0K_L^0}`$ = 6. Applying the whole set of selection criteria and requiring that for at least one $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ pair the conditions (6) are held, one can obtain a practically pure $`K_S^0K_L^0`$ sample. From the distribution of $`r_{min}`$ for thus selected events of the process (1) the ratio $`N_{K_S^0K_L^0}(r_{min}<0.3)`$/$`N_{K_S^0K_L^0}(r_{min}>0.3)`$= 0.20 $`\pm `$ 0.03 was obtained in good agreement with simulation. Using this ratio, the expected background in the region $`r_{min}<`$ 0.3 cm was estimated to be $`N_{bg}=1.2_{0.4}^{+0.7}`$. Thus, the upper limit can be set on the number of signal events: $`N_{\eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}}<`$ 5.1 at 90% CL . The 90% CL upper limit can be correspondingly obtained for the decay probability:

$`Br(\varphi \eta \pi ^+\pi ^{})<{\displaystyle \frac{N_{\eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}}}{N_\varphi Br(\eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0)\epsilon _{\eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}}}}=1.810^5,`$ (11)
where $`N_\varphi 1610^6`$  is the total number of $`\varphi `$ meson events recorded by CMD-2 in the experiment, $`Br(\eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0)=0.231\pm 0.005`$  is the branching ratio of the $`\eta `$ decay and $`\epsilon _{\eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}}=0.09\pm 0.01`$ is the detection efficiency obtained from simulation. To take into account the uncertainties in the $`Br(\eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0)`$ and $`\epsilon _{\eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}}`$, their values were lowered by one standard deviation while calculating the upper limit in (11). This upper limit is approximately 15 times better than the previous one also set by the CMD-2 group using the $`\eta \gamma \gamma `$ decay mode and based on part of the total data sample .

Calculating the detection efficiency for the process $`e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$ under the assumption of the constant matrix element and skipping the probability of the decay $`\eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$ in (11), one can obtain the upper limit on the branching ratio of the direct decay $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$:

$$Br(\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0)<4.610^690\%\text{CL}.$$

This limit is 25 times better than the previous one placed in Ref. .

## 5 Discussion

At the present time no theoretical calculations exist for the value $`Br(\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{})`$. A simple estimate can be performed  taking into account the $`\varphi \gamma `$ transition:

$`Br(\varphi \gamma ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{})=9{\displaystyle \frac{(Br(\varphi e^+e^{}))^2}{\alpha ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\sigma _0}{\sigma _\varphi }}=3.9910^6,`$
where the values $`\sigma _0=1.114`$ nb and $`\sigma _\varphi =4224`$ nb were used for the nonresonant cross section of the process $`e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and the total cross section of the $`\varphi `$ meson production respectively. The measured branching ratio is consistent with this estimate.

Note that this measurement is also of interest to clarify the problem of two conflicting results for the branching ratio of the related decay $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ recently measured by CMD-2  and SND groups . While in the CMD-2 measurement the imaginary part of the interference amplitude is consistent with zero, SND claims a statistically significant non-zero imaginary part for this quantity. The result obtained in our work for the $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ decay mode does not contradict a purely one-photon mechanism of the $`\rho \varphi `$ mixing. However, large systematic uncertainties preclude unambiguous conclusions.

In papers  using various models of $`\varphi `$$`\rho `$ and $`\varphi `$$`\omega `$ mixing, the value for the branching ratio of the decay $`\varphi \eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ was calculated:

$$Br(\varphi \eta \pi ^+\pi ^{})=0.3510^6.$$

This value is 50 times lower than the obtained upper limit.

## 6 Conclusion

The reaction $`e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ has been studied in the energy range 0.984 to 1.06 GeV. About 3300 $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events were detected. For the first time the interference behavior of the cross section has been observed in the vicinity of the $`\varphi `$ meson. The branching ratio of the decay $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ suppressed by $`G`$-parity conservation and OZI rule has been measured:

$$Br(\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{})=(3.93\pm 1.74\pm 2.14)10^6.$$

Upper limits have been set on the branching ratios of the decays $`\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$ and $`\varphi \eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$:

$`Br(\varphi \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0)`$ $`<`$ $`4.610^690\%\text{CL},`$
$`Br(\varphi \eta \pi ^+\pi ^{})`$ $`<`$ $`1.810^590\%\text{CL}.`$
The authors are grateful to the staff of VEPP-2M for excellent performance of the collider, to all engineers and technicians who participated in the design, commissioning and operation of CMD-2. Special thanks are due to N.N.Achasov for useful discussions.