Perturbative QCD, Baryons, and Baryon Resonances

Abstract

We will discuss applications of QCD using perturbation theory to baryons1,2 and to the baryon resonances. The subjects that nuclear physicists study are changing and Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is presumably the correct theory for the strong interactions, so that this is a suitable subject for this institute. At the same time, we should remember that many of the consequences of QCD, and all the ones to be mentioned in these lectures, are derived using perturbation theory and so are valid only at higher momentum transfers, perhaps at the upper reaches of what will be got at CEBAF. There are many motivations for pursuing these studies. The predictions are testable and this is always an encouragement to the experimenter. We can see what limits traditional nuclear physics must approach as the kinematics becomes more extreme. We may get some idea where the boundary lies between the “strong interaction region of QCD” (i.e., traditional nuclear modeling) and the “asymptotically free” region of QCD.