Finite volume effects for meson masses and decay constants

We present a detailed numerical study of finite volume effects for masses and decay constants of the octet of pseudoscalar mesons. For this analysis we use chiral perturbation theory and asymptotic formulae a la Luscher and propose an extension of the latter beyond the leading exponential term. We argue that such a formula, which is exact at the one-loop level, gives the numerically dominant part at two loops and beyond. Finally, we discuss the possibility to determine low energy constants from the finite volume dependence of masses and decay constants. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.