F/D Ratios in Hyperon Beta Decays and Spin Distribution in the Nucleon

It is shown that hyperon beta decay data can be well accommodated within the framework of Cabbibo's SU(3) symmetric description if one allows for a small SU(3) symmetry breaking proportional to the mass difference between strange and nonstrange quarks. The F/D ratio does not depend sensitively on the exact form of the symmetry-breaking, and the best fits are close to the value previously used in the analysis of deep inelastic scattering of electrons or muons on polarized nucleons. The total quark helicity and strange quark polarization in the nucleon are discussed.