Perturbative QCD Analysis of the Nucleon's Pauli Form Factor F_2(Q^2)

Abstract

We perform a perturbative QCD analysis of the nucleon's Pauli form factor $F_2(Q^2)$ in the asymptotically large $Q^2$ limit. We find that the leading contribution to $F_2(Q^2)$ has a $1/Q^6$ power behavior, consistent with the well-known result in the literature. Its coefficient depends on the leading- and subleading-twist light-cone wave functions of the nucleon, the latter describing the quarks with one unit of orbital angular momentum. We also derive at the logarithmic accurary the asymptotic scaling $F_2(Q^2)/F_1(Q^2) \sim (\log^2 Q^2/\Lambda^2)/Q^2$ which describes recent Jefferson Lab data well.