Axial anomaly and the precise value of the $\pi^0 \to 2 \gamma$ decay width

Abstract

The anomaly in the vacuum expectation value of the product of axial and two vector currents (AVV) in QCD is investigated. The goal is to determine from its value the $\pi^0 \to 2 \gamma$ decay width with high precision. The sum rule for AVV formfactor is studied. The difference $f_{\pi^0} - f_{\pi^+}$ caused by strong interaction is calculated and appears to be small. The $\pi^0 - \eta$ mixing is accounted. The $\pi^0 \to 2 \gamma$ decay width determined theoretically from the axial anomaly is found to be $\Gamma(\pi^0 \to 2 \gamma) = 7.93 eV$ with an error $\sim 1.5%$. The measurement of the $\pi^0 \to 2 \gamma$ decay width at the same level of accuracy would allow one to achieve a high precision test of QCD.