Including theΔ(1232)resonance in baryon chiral perturbation theory

Baryon chiral perturbation theory with explicit $\ensuremath{\Delta}(1232)$ degrees of freedom is considered. The most general interactions of pions, nucleons, and \ensuremath{\Delta} consistent with all underlying symmetries as well as with the constraint structure of higher-spin fields are constructed. By use of the extended on-mass-shell renormalization scheme, a manifestly Lorentz-invariant effective-field theory with a systematic power counting is obtained. As applications, we discuss the mass of the nucleon, the pion-nucleon \ensuremath{\sigma} term, and the pole of the \ensuremath{\Delta} propagator.