Chiral symmetry and pion condensation. II. General formalism

Abstract

The role of chiral symmetry in pion condensation was explored through model calculations in the preceding paper. Here we present model-independent results which justify and sometimes go beyond the previous work. Our methods are based on functional techniques used in field theory. The paper is not self-contained and is meant to be read in conjunction with the preceding one. In the course of this work we were led to look at lowenergy $\pi -N$ interactions. In a brief survey, it is pointed out that they are more complicated than is commonly assumed.