Flux Tube Zero-Point Motion, Hadronic Charge Radii, and Hybrid Meson Production Cross Sections

TL;DR

This paper explores how flux tube zero-point motion influences hadronic charge radii and relates these effects to hybrid meson production cross sections, proposing a QCD analogue of the Sudakov form factor.

Contribution

It introduces a novel connection between flux tube dynamics, hadronic charge radii, and hybrid meson production, extending the understanding of QCD effects in hadron structure and reactions.

Findings

Flux tube zero-point motion significantly affects hadronic charge radii.

A relation between hybrid meson production and elastic form factor slopes is established.

Identification of a flux tube overlap integral as a QCD Sudakov analogue.

Abstract

Flux tube zero-point motion produces quark displacements transverse to the flux tube which make significant contributions to hadronic charge radii. In heavy quark systems, these contributions can be related by Bjorken's sum rule to the rates for semileptonic decay to hybrid mesons. This connection can be generalized to other leptoproduction processes, where transverse contributions to elastic form factor slopes are related to the cross sections for the production of the associated hybrid states. I identify the flux tube overlap integral responsible for these effects as the strong QCD analogue of the Sudakov form factor of perturbative QCD.