The Schwinger Nonet Mass and Sakurai Mass-Mixing Angle Formulae Reexamined

Abstract

We study the origins of the inaccuracies of Schwinger's nonet mass, and the Sakurai mass-mixing angle, formulae for the pseudoscalar meson nonet, and suggest new versions of them, modified by the inclusion of the pseudoscalar decay constants. We use these new formulae to determine the pseudoscalar decay constants and mixing angle. The results obtained, f_8/f_\pi =1.185\pm 0.040, f_9/f_\pi =1.095\pm 0.020, f_\eta /f_\pi =1.085\pm 0.025, f_{\eta ^{'}}/f_\pi =1.195\pm 0.035, \theta =(-21.4\pm 1.0)^o, are in excellent agreement with experiment.