Electromagnetic Polarizabilities of Mesons

Abstract

The Chiral Perturbation Theory (CHPT) has been very successful in describing low-energy hadronic properties in the non-perturbative regime of Quantum Chromodynamics. The results of ChPT, many of which are currently under active experimental investigation, provide stringent predictions of many fundamental properties of hadrons, including quantities such as electromagnetic polarizabilities. Yet, even for the simplest hadronic system, a pion, we still have a broad spectrum of polarizability measurements (MARK II, VENUS, ALEPH, TPC/2g, CELLO, Belle, Crystal Ball). The meson polarizability can be accessed through Compton scattering, so we can measure it through Primakoff reaction. This paper will provide an analysis of the CHPT predictions of the SU(3) meson electromagnetic polarizabilities and outline their relationship to the Primakoff cross section at the kinematics relevant to the planned JLab experiments.