Observation of excited charmed mesons

Using the Tagged Photon Spectrometer and a high-energy photon beam, we have searched for excited states of charm in Fermilab experiment E691. We have found evidence for a state of mass 2459\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3 (stat.) \ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2 (syst.) MeV/${c}^{2}$ and width 20\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}10\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}5 MeV/${c}^{2}$ which decays to ${D}^{+}$${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$. The fraction of ${D}^{+}$ coming from ${D}^{\mathrm{*}\mathrm{*}0}$(2459) is 0.07\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.02\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.02. We also confirm the ${D}^{\mathrm{*}\mathrm{*}0}$(2420)\ensuremath{\rightarrow}${D}^{\mathrm{*}+}$${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ decay observed previously in ${e}^{+}$${e}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ experiments and present evidence for its charged counterpart.