Electromagnetic pion form factor and neutral pion decay width

Abstract The electromagnetic pion form factor, F π ( q 2 ), is calculated for spacelike q 2 in impulse approximation using a confining quark propagator, S , and a dressed quark-photon vertex, Γ μ , obtained from realistic, non-perturbative Dyson-Schwinger equation studies. Good agreement with the available data is obtained for F π ( q 2 ) and other pion observables, including the decay π 0 → γγ . This calculation suggests that soft, non-perturbative contributions dominate F π ( q 2 ) at presently accessible q 2 .