How to Understand the Lightest Scalars *

Based on previous papers I discuss how I understand the lightest scalars using a general coupled channel model. This model includes all light two-pseudoscalar thresholds, constraints from Adler zeroes, flavour symmetric couplings, unitarity and physically acceptable analyticity. One finds that with a large coupling there can appear two physical resonance poles on the second sheet although only one bare quark-antiquark state is put in. The f0(980) and f0(1370) resonance poles are thus in this model two manifestations of the same strange-antistrange quark state. On the other hand, the isoscalar state containing u and d quarks becomes (when unitarized and strongly distorted by hadronic mass shifts) a very broad resonance, with its pole at 470-i250 MeV. This is the sigma meson required by models for spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry.