TOWARD THE UNDERSTANDING OF K→3π DECAYS IN CHIRAL PERTURBATION THEORY

Corrections to current-algebra analysis of K→3π decay amplitudes are calculated using the dimension-four effective chiral Lagrangians, which are uniquely determined from the integration of nontopological chiral anomalies. We find that the constant and linear terms in the ΔI = ½ amplitude are in good agreement with experiment; the previous discrepancy of 20–35% between current algebra and experiment is thus accounted for by including the higher order chiral Lagrangians. Predictions for quadratic terms are also given for both ΔI = ½ and [Formula: see text] transitions.