Anomalous spin-1-meson decays from the gauged Wess-Zumino term

We apply a recently proposed chiral-Lagrangian model to discuss the anomalous (unnatural-parity) decays of the low-lying vector and axial-vector mesons. First, about twenty "SU(3) relatives" of the ω→3π and ω→π⁰γ processes previously treated are investigated. The results confirm our confidence in the reliability of the method employed. We then claim that the obscure reaction D(1285)→ρππ is an important prototype for studying anomalous processes which do not go through a vector-vector-pseudoscalar vertex. The present model based on a gauging (with phenomenological fields) of the Wess-Zumino term gives a reasonable description of this decay. It also suggests the suppression of processes like axial-vector meson{→}vector meson plus photon. In the course of this work we take a fresh look at the A₁-ρ-π system in the chiral-Lagrangian framework. We note that it is possible to explain together the A₁ mass and the widths for A₁→ρπ, ρ→2π, and A₁→πγ.