CHIRAL SU(3)BYSU(3) AS A SYMMETRY OF STRONG INTERACTIONS

Starting with the modern developments of current algebra and the hypothesis of partially conserved axial-vector current, it has gradually become apparent that the strong interactions are almost invariant under the group SU(3)SU(3). In the limit that symmetry breaking is neglected, SU(3)SU(3) does not appear as a symmetry of the particle states as SU(3) does, but rather as a symmetry realized by eight Goldstone bosons, i.e., the pseudoscalar octet. Most papers on SU(3)SU(3) symmetry have been concerned with soft-meson theorems and their connection with effective Lagrangians. This paper is devoted to other aspects of the symmetry. Part of the paper is frankly pedagogical. The physics behind a symmetry realized by way of Goldstone bosons is brought out through a study of the σ model. Then the general principles are stated abstractly and applied to the hadrons. One of the new results presented here is that there are two distinct ways in which SU(3)SU(3) can be realized. In both cases there is an octet of massless pseudoscalar mesons. The two possibilities differ in the residual symmetry of the hadron spectrum: In one case, it is only SU(3); in the other, it is SU(3) times a discrete symmetry, which leads to parity doublets. It is conjectured that some of the observed parity doubling in nucleon resonances is a consequence of this new discrete symmetry. Symmetry breaking is discussed in detail and is found to be very complex. In particular, it is shown that, at least for the pseudoscalar-meson masses, octet enhancement can never occur for first-order perturbations around an SU(3)SU(3)-symmetrical limit. Since octet enhancement is an empirical fact, one is forced to conclude that lowest-order perturbation theory is not a good approximation. In connection with octet enhancement, we show how one can use a principle of pole dominance in the angular momentum plane to replace scalar tadpole" mesons with Regge trajectories. © 1969 The American Physical Society."