Disguising the oblique parameters

We point out a set of operator identities that relate the operators corresponding to the oblique corrections to operators that modify fermion couplings to the gauge bosons as well as operators that modify triple gauge boson couplings. Such identities are simple consequences of the equations of motion. Therefore the contributions from new physics to the oblique parameters can be disguised as modifications of triple gauge boson couplings provided the fermion couplings to the gauge bosons are suitably modified by higher-dimensional operators. Since the experimental constraints on triple gauge boson couplings are much weaker than the constraints on the oblique parameters this observation allows extra room for model building. We derive operator relations in effective theories of the standard model with the electroweak symmetry either linearly or nonlinearly realized and discuss applications of our results.