B* cross-section and B* - B mass difference

Using the CLEO II detector, the author has measured the B* meson production cross section as a function of center of mass energy from 10.61 GeV to 10.70 GeV. It is found that the production cross section of B* mesons is 0.162 ± 0.025 ± 0.014 nb at 10.63 GeV. This cross section can only be attributed to B bar B* production. The author reports the first observation of B*bar B* production with a cross section of 0.234 ± 0.044 ± 0.019 nb at 10.70 GeV. The B*, B*bar B* and total b bar b hadronic cross sections are compared to predictions from potential models. The B* - B mass difference has been measured to be 45.9 ± 0.3 ± 0.6 MeV/c2, which is consistent with previous measurements