Quantifying the nucleon's pion cloud with transverse charge densities

Abstract

The transverse densities in a fast-moving nucleon offer a model-independent framework for analyzing the spatial structure of the pion cloud and its role in current matrix elements. We calculate the chiral large-distance component of the charge density using a dispersion representation of the form factor and discuss its partonic interpretation. The non-chiral core is dominant up to surprisingly large distances ~2 fm. The chiral component can be probed in precision low-Q^2 elastic eN scattering or in peripheral deep-inelastic processes which resolve its quark/gluon content.

4 pages, 3 figures. Added references, expanded comments on related approaches (Breit frame, dispersion analysis).