Measurement of Ds− → τ−ντ and a new limit for B− → τ−ντ

Using a data sample of 1 475 000 Z → qq̄(γ) events collected during 1994 with the L3 detector at LEP, we have studied the purely leptonic decays of heavy flavour mesons, Ds− → τ−ντ and B− → τ−ντ. A signal is observed in the invariant mass distribution M(γDs−) corresponding to the decay sequence D∗− → γDs−, Ds− → τ−ντ, τ− → l−νlντ. The branching fraction for Ds− → τ−ντ decays is measured to be β(Ds− → τ−ντ) = 0.074 ± 0.028(stat) ± 0.016(syst) ± 0.018(norm). No signal of B− → τ−ντ decays is observed in the data, corresponding to an upper limit on the branching franction β(B− → τ−ντ) < 5.7 × 10−4 at 90% CL.