eta -> pi^+ pi^- pi^0 gamma in Chiral Perturbation Theory

Abstract

We analyse the radiative decay $\eta \to \pi^+\pi^- \pi^0\gamma$ in the low--energy expansion of the Standard Model. We employ the notion of ``generalized bremsstrahlung'' to take full advantage of the theoretical and experimental information on the corresponding non-radiative $\eta \to 3 \pi$ decay. The direct emission amplitude of ${\cal O}(p^4)$ is due to one-loop diagrams with intermediate pions (isospin violating) and kaons (isospin conserving). The isospin conserving contributions to direct emission, including vector meson exchange appearing at ${\cal O}(p^6)$, are suppressed.