Resonance Electroproduction and the Origin of Mass

TL;DR

This paper explores how recent experimental and theoretical advances in quantum chromodynamics shed light on the origin of visible mass and confinement within the Standard Model.

Contribution

It discusses new insights gained from contemporary methods in solving the continuum bound-state problem in relativistic quantum field theory, informed by modern nucleon-resonance electroproduction experiments.

Findings

Insights into the origin of mass from QCD

Advances in solving the continuum bound-state problem

Experimental data informing theoretical models

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges within the Standard Model is to discover the source of visible mass. Indeed, this is the focus of a "Millennium Problem", posed by the Clay Mathematics Institute. The answer is hidden within quantum chromodynamics (QCD); and it is probable that revealing the origin of mass will also explain the nature of confinement. In connection with these issues, this perspective describes insights that have recently been drawn using contemporary methods for solving the continuum bound-state problem in relativistic quantum field theory and how they have been informed and enabled by modern experiments on nucleon-resonance electroproduction.