Vector Meson Masses in Chiral Perturbation Theory

Abstract

We discuss the vector meson masses within the context of Chiral Perturbation Theory performing an expansion in terms of the momenta, quark masses and 1/Nc. We extend the previous analysis to include isospin breaking effects and also include up to order $p^4$. We discuss vector meson chiral perturbation theory in some detail and present a derivation from a relativistic lagrangian. The unknown coefficients are estimated in various ways. We also discuss the relevance of electromagnetic corrections and the implications of the present calculation for the determination of quark masses.