Electromagnetic Form Factors of the Nucleon in a Relativistic Quark Pair Creation Model

Abstract

We study the effects of the | qqq q\bar{q} > component of the hadronic wave function on the description of the electromagnetic structure of the nucleon. Starting with a qqq baryonic wave function which describes the baryonic and mesonic low energy spectrum, the extra q\bar{q} pair is generated through a relativistic version of the 3P_0 model. It is shown that this model leads to a renormalization of the quark mass that allows one to construct a conserved electromagnetic current. We conclude that these dynamical relativistic corrections play an important role in reproducing the Q2 dependence of the electromagnetic form factors at low Q^2.

15 pages, 3 figures. Minor changes