CHIRAL SYMMETRY AND U_A(1) ANOMALY IN AN EFFECTIVE THEORY OF QCD

We show on the basis of an effective theory of QCD that a wide variety of observables in the hadron world is governed by the chiral symmetry together with an interplay between the axial anomaly and the explicit symmetry breaking due to the current quark mass. We also discuss the nature of the chiral transition at finite temperature and related dynamical phenomena using the effective Lagrangian. Some phenomenological implications of the small vector coupling (``vector limit'') at high temperatures are suggested.