Effect of Binding in Deep Inelastic Scattering Revisited

Abstract

In the Bjorken limit of the present theory of deep inelastic scattering (DIS) the structure functions (up to anomalous dimensions and perturbative QCD corrections) are described by the parton model. However the current operator in the parton model does not properly commute with the representation operators corresponding to the Lorentz group, space reflection and time reversal. To investigate the violation of these symmetries in the parton model we consider a model in which the current operator explicitly satisfies extended Poincare invariance and current conservation. It is shown that due to binding of quarks in the nucleon the Bjorken variable x no longer can be interpreted as the internal light cone momentum fraction $\xi$ even in the Bjorken limit. As a result, the data on DIS alone do not make it possible to determine the $\xi$ distribution of quarks in the nucleon. We also consider a qualitative explanation of the fact that in the parton model the values given by the sum rules exceed the corresponding experimental quantities while the quark contribution to the nucleon momentum and spin is underestimated.