Analytic estimates for penguin operators in quenched QCD

Abstract

Strong penguin operators are singlets under the right-handed flavor symmetry group SU(3)_R. However, they do not remain singlets when the operator is embedded in (partially) quenched QCD, but instead they become linear combinations of two operators with different transformation properties under the (partially) quenched symmetry group. This is an artifact of the quenched approximation. Each of these two operators is represented by a different set of low-energy constants in the chiral effective theory. In this paper, we give analytic estimates for the leading low-energy constants, in quenched and partially quenched QCD. We conclude that the effects of quenching on Q_6 are large.