Quantum-mechanical picture of peripheral chiral dynamics

Abstract

The nucleon's peripheral transverse charge and magnetization densities are computed in chiral effective field theory. The densities are represented in first-quantized form, as overlap integrals of chiral light-front wave functions describing the transition of the nucleon to soft pion-nucleon intermediate states. The orbital motion of the pion causes a large left-right asymmetry in a transversely polarized nucleon. The effect attests to the relativistic nature of chiral dynamics [pion momenta k = O(M_pi)] and could be observed in form factor measurements at low momentum transfer.