Power corrections and the Gaussian form of the meson wave function

The wave function of a light pseudoscalar meson is considered and nonperturbative corrections as signaled by perturbation theory are calculated. Two schemes are used: the massive gluon and the running coupling scheme. Both indicate the presence of leading power corrections of O(b{sup 2}), whose exponentiation leads to a Gaussian dependence of the wave function on the impact parameter b. The dependence of this correction on the light cone energy fractions of the quark and the antiquark is discussed and compared with other models for the meson. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}