Measurement of Interfering K^*+K^- and K^*-K^+ Amplitudes in the Decay D⁰ --> K^+K^-pi⁰

We have studied the Cabibbo-suppressed decay mode D^0 into K^+ K^- pi^0 using a Dalitz plot technique and find the strong phase difference delta_D [defined as delta_(K*^- K^+) - delta_(K*^+ K^-)] = 332 degrees +- 8 degrees +- 11 degrees and relative amplitude r_D [defined as a_(K*^- K^+) / a_(K*^+ K^-)] = 0.52 +- 0.05 +- 0.04. This measurement indicates significant destructive interference between D^0 into K^+ (K^- pi^0)_K*^- and D^0 into K^- (K^+ pi^0)_K*^+ in the Dalitz plot region where these two modes overlap. This analysis uses 9.0 fb^(-1) of data collected at s^(1/2) of approximately 10.58 GeV with the CLEO III detector.