Electromagnetic Meson Mass Differences

It is shown that if the pi and K meson electromagnetic mass differences are calculated in the finite electromagnetic gage, the two-photon vertex term becomes finite in the pole approximation to the dispersion relation and a satisfactory quantum theory of both pi and K meson mass splitting is obtained. An equation is derived for the mass difference between pi /sup +/+ and pi /sup 0/ mesons, which gives a result agreeing with experiment; and the equation for K/sup +/ and K/sup 0/ mesons gives a mass difference of -3.5 Mev, corresponding to a K meson model of a positively charged cloud of radius approximately 0.5 x 10/sup -13/ cm with a negatively charged core of radius approximately O.2 x 10/sup -13/ cm. (D.L.C.)