NOVEL FACETS OF THE NONABELIAN ANOMALY

We derive new constraints on multipoint amplitudes involving chiral currents. These constraints are valid for arbitrary values of the momenta of the currents, and for arbitrary chiral symmetry-breaking schemes. Examples of how these constraints are realized for several symmetry-breaking patterns are given, and relations to the Wess—Zumino action are discussed. The constraints are shown to result from the presence of nonAbelian phases on surfaces in gauge group parameter space. They represent subtler manifestations of a general class of topological structures, the simplest of which gives rise to the nonAbelian anomaly equation by the Abelian phase winding.