Universal Bounds for SU(3) Low Energy Constants

In this paper bounds for L{sub 1}, L{sub 2}, and L{sub 3} are obtained in chiral perturbation theory with three flavors. At the same time we test the compatibility of this theory with axiomatic principles. Following a recent paper we use dispersion relations to write positivity conditions that translate into bounds for the chiral low energy constants. As a first approach we consider the exact SU(3){sub V} limit and notice that if a common mass of the order of that of the kaon is adopted for the octet of pseudo-Goldstone bosons the bounds have very large O(p{sup 6}) corrections. Once the positivity conditions are adapted to account for different masses, we correct the previous bounds for a physical kaon mass and find that they tighten. We observe an overlap between the experimentally determined region and the first principles forbidden region, in the space of parameters.