Factorization and its applicability in weak nonleptonic processes

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Abstract
The role of the weak effective Hamiltonian in nonleptonic physics is studied. The application of the short-distance technique in simple pole transitions in mesons is justified. The amplitude, which is proportional to the matrix element of the Hamiltonian, is shown to be factorizable into a product of a coefficient function (hard part) and a matrix element of some local operator (soft part). The proof for such a factorization, valid to any order in the perturbative calculation, is given. The problems encountered in the evaluation of soft parts are presented. The use of a similar procedure in more complicated weak transitions is questioned, and a discussion of the predictive power of the effective-Hamiltonian approach is included.