Testing QCD in the non-perturbative regime

Abstract

This is an exciting time for strong interaction physics. We have a candidate for a fundamental theory, namely QCD, which has passed all the tests thrown at it in the perturbative regime. In the non-perturbative regime it has also produced some promising results and recently a few triumphs but the next decade will see enormous progress in our ability to unambiguously calculate the consequences of non-perturbative QCD and to test those predictions experimentally. Amongst the new experimental facilities being constructed, the hadronic machines at JPARC and GSI-FAIR and the 12 GeV Upgrade at Jefferson Lab, the major new electromagnetic facility worldwide, present a beautifully complementary network aimed at producing precise new measurements which will advance our knowledge of nuclear systems and push our ability to calculate the consequences of QCD to the limit. We will first outline the plans at Jefferson Lab for doubling the energy of CEBAF. The new facility presents some wonderful opportunities for discovery in strong interaction physics, as well as beyond the standard model. Then we turn to the theoretical developments aimed at extracting precise results for physical hadron properties from lattice QCD simulations. This discussion will begin with classical examples, such as the mass ofmore » the nucleon and ?, before dealing with a very recent and spectacular success involving information extracted from modern parity violating electron scattering.« less