Baryon Regge Trajectories in the Light of the $1/N_c$ Expansion

Abstract

We analyze Regge trajectories in terms of the $1/N_c$ expansion of QCD. Neglecting spin-orbit contributions to the large $N_c$ baryon mass operator, we consider the evolution of the spin-flavor singlet component of the masses with respect to the angular momentum. We find two distinct and remarkably linear Regge trajectories for symmetric and for mixed symmetric spin-flavor multiplets.