Large excess of orbitally excited mesons at LEP

The production rates of the orbitally excited states f0(980), f2(1270), f′2(1525), K∗02(1430) and Λ(1520) measured in the hadronic Z0 decays at LEP are compared with the universal mass dependence previously observed for the rates of the pseudoscalar and vector mesons, and octet and decuplet baryons. It is shown that, contrary to general belief, the production rates of orbitally excited mesons, if treated in the same way and compared at the same masses, are not suppressed and are even 5.4±1.1 times larger than follows from this universal mass dependence. A possible reason for this large excess of orbitally excited mesons related to their gluonic excitation is discussed.