This review of the quark-level linear σ model (QLLσM) is based upon the dynamical realization of the pseudoscalar and scalar mesons as a linear representation of SU(2) x SU(2) chiral symmetry, with the symmetry weakly broken by current quark masses. In its simplest SU(2) incarnation, with two non-strange quark flavors and three colors, this nonperturbative theory, which can be selfconsistently bootstrapped in loop order, is shown to accurately reproduce a host of low-energy observables with only one parameter, namely the pion decay constant 𝑓_π. Extending the scheme to SU(3) by including the strange quark, equally good results are obtained for many strong, electromagnetic, and weak processes just with two extra constants, viz. 𝑓_Κ and ⟨π|H_weak|Κ⟩. Links are made with the vector-meson-dominance model, the BCS theory of superconductivity, and chiral-symmetry restoration at high temperature. Finally, these ideas are cautiously generalized to the electroweak sector, including the W, Z, and Higgs bosons, and also to CP violation.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Physical Sciences
Research Group:	Classical physics
Research Field:	Classical physics not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in the physical sciences
UTAS Author:	Delbourgo, R (Professor Robert Delbourgo)
ID Code:	87027
Year Published:	2013
Web of Science® Times Cited:	10
Deposited By:	Mathematics and Physics
Deposited On:	2013-11-06
Last Modified:	2014-04-28
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