Approximating chiral quark models with linear sigma-models

We study the approximation of chiral quark models with simpler models, obtained via gradient expansion. The resulting Lagrangian of the type of the linear sigma-model contains, at the lowest level, an additional term with two derivatives. We investigate the dynamical consequences of this term and its relevance to the phenomenology of the soliton models of the nucleon. It is found that the inclusion of the new term allows for a more efficient approximation of the underlying quark theory, especially in those cases where dynamics allows for a large deviation of the chiral fields from the chiral circle, such as in quark models with non-local regulators.