Quark Fragmentation Functions in Low-Energy Chiral Theory

Abstract

We examine the physics content of fragmentation functions for inclusive hadron production in a quark jet and argue that it can be calculated in low energy effective theories. As an example, we present a calculation of $u$-quark fragmentation to $\pi^+$ and $\pi^-$ mesons in the lowest order in the chiral quark model. The comparison between our result and experimental data is encouraging.