Consistency of the $\pi\Delta$ interaction in chiral perturbation theory

Abstract

We analyze the constraint structure of a spin-3/2 particle interacting with a pseudoscalar. Requiring the self consistency of the considered effective field theory imposes restrictions on the possible interaction terms. In the present case we derive two constraints among the three lowest-order $\pi\Delta$ interaction terms. From these constraints we find that the total Lagrangian is invariant under the so-called point transformation. On the other hand, demanding the invariance under the point transformation alone is less stringent and produces only classes of relations among the coupling constants.