The axial-vector mesons $a_1(1260)$, $b_1(1235)$, $f_1(1285)$, $h_1(1170)$, $h_1(1380)$, and $K_1(1270)$ are dynamically generated in the unitized chiral perturbation theory. Such a picture has been tested extensively in the past few years. In this work, we calculate the interaction kernel up to $\mathcal{O}(p^2)$ and study the impact on the dynamically generated axial-vector states. In anticipation of future lattice QCD simulations, we calculate the scattering lengths and the pole positions as functions of the pion mass, with the light-quark mass dependence of the kaon, the eta, and the vector mesons determined by the $n_f=2+1$ lattice QCD simulations of the PACS-CS Collaboration.

21 pages, 4 figures