QUARK STRUCTURE OF PSEUDOSCALAR MESONS

Abstract

I review to which extent the properties of pseudoscalar mesons can be understood in terms of the underlying quark (and eventually gluon) structure. Special emphasis is put on the progress in our understanding of η–η′ mixing. Process-independent mixing parameters are defined, and relations between different bases and conventions are studied. Both, the low-energy description in the framework of chiral perturbation theory and the high-energy application in terms of light-cone wave functions for partonic Fock states, are considered. A thorough discussion of theoretical and phenomenological consequences of the mixing approach will be given. Finally, I will discuss mixing with other states (π 0 , η c , …).