Hadronic wavefunctions in light-cone quantization

Abstract

The analysis of light-cone wavefunctions seems the most promising theoretical approach to a detailed understanding of the structure of relativistic bound states, particularly hadrons. However, there are numerous complications in this approach. Most importantly, the light-cone approach sacrifices manifest rotational invariance in exchange for the elimination of negative-energy states. The requirement of rotational invariance of the full theory places important constraints on proposed light-cone wavefunctions, whether they are modelled or extracted from some numerical procedure. A formulation of the consequences of the hidden rotational symmetry has been sought for some time; it is presented in Chapter 2. In lattice gauge theory or heavy-quark effective theory, much of the focus is on the extraction of numerical values of operators which are related to the hadronic wavefunction. These operators are to some extent interdependent, with relations induced by fundamental constraints on the underlying wavefunction. The consequences of the requirement of unitarity are explored in Chapter 3, and are found to have startling phenomenological relevance. To test model light-cone wavefunctions, experimental predictions must be made. The reliability of perturbative QCD as a tool for making such predictions has been questioned. In Chapter 4, the author presents a computation of the rates for nucleon-antinucleon annihilation, improving the reliability of the perturbative computation by taking into account the Sudakov suppression of exclusive processes at large transverse impact parameter. In Chapter 5, he develops the analysis of semiexclusive production. This work focuses on processes in which a single isolated meson is produced perturbatively and recoils against a wide hadronizing system. At energies above about 10 GeV, semiexclusive processes are shown to be the most sensitive experimental probes of hadronic structure.