A chiral effective field U(3)L ⊗ U(3)R theory for light mesons

We consider mixing schemes and masses of light vector mesons within the framework of an extended U(3)(L) circle times U(3)(R) effective field theory based on the hidden local symmetry approach, where the light mass pseudoscalar and vector meson nonets play the role of dynamic variables. The mixing schemes and model free parameters are determined through diagonalization of the kinetic and mass matrices, supplemented with the assumption that eigenvalues of the resulting mass matrix be equal to the physical meson masses. We show that a particular choice of the Lagrangian which breaks SU(3)(F) incorporates VMD as a good first approximation for low-momentum electromagnetic processes, and reproduces the radii of charged pions and kaons fairly well. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.