Octet-decuplet baryon mass splittings from self-consistent one-loop perturbation theory

The bag model of confined relativistic quarks in chiral-invariant interaction with scalar, pseudoscalar, vector, and pseudovector mesons, as well as gluons, is used to calculate the masses and wave functions of the spin-1/2 baryon octet and spin-3/2 decuplet, using selfconsistent Brillouin-Wigner bound state perturbation theory. Chiral symmetry breaking is invoked with the sigma model. SU (6) and SU (3) symmetries are broken by the experimental meson spectrum, and a strange quark mass. Mass corrections are calculated to one loop order, limited to the baryons of the octet and decuplet and the lowest lying mesons. Encouraging results are obtained, especially for theΔ — N and theΣ — Λ splittings. Convergence and stability have not been demonstrated, but are evidently improved by the self-consistency requirement. An initial parameter tuning gives a fit to all the octet and decuplet masses within ≦0.02 GeV, at the price of choosing the bag radius, the non-strange baryon input bag mass, and the strange quark mass. Even these small discrepancies can be dramatically reduced by fine-tuning the vector meson coupling and including an instanton contribution peculiar to theΛ.