  The off-shell electromagnetic vertex of a (pseudo-) scalar particle contains,
in general, two form factors F and G which depend, in addition to the squared
momentum transfer, on the invariant masses associated with the initial and
final legs of the vertex. Chiral perturbation theory to one loop is used to
calculate the off-shell form factors of pions and kaons. The formalism of
Gasser and Leutwyler, which was previously used to calculate the on-shell limit
of the form factor F, is extended to accommodate the most general form for
off-shell Green's functions in the pseudoscalar meson sector. We find that
chiral symmetry predicts that the form factors F of the charged pions and kaons
go off-shell in the same way, i.e., the off-shell slope at the real photon
point is given by the same new phenomenological constant $\beta_1$.
Furthermore, it is shown that at order $p^4$ the form factor F of the $K^0$
does not show any off-shell dependence. The form factors G are all related to
the form factors F in the correct fashion as required by the Ward-Takahashi
identity. Numerical results for different off-shell kinematics are presented.

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology;Nuclear Theory