Scaling, Duality, and the Behavior of Resonances in Inelastic Electron-Proton Scattering

We propose that a substantial part of the observed behavior of inelastic electron-proton scattering is due to a nondiffractive component of virtual photon-proton scattering. The behavior of resonance electroproduction is shown to be related in a striking way to that of deep inelastic electron-proton scattering. We derive relations between the elastic and inelastic form factors and the threshold behavior of the inelastic structure functions in the scaling limit. High energy inelastic electron-nucleon scattering provides a unique way to probe the instantaneous charge distribution of the nucleon and to search for possible substructure. ' If one observes only the scattered electrons' energy and angle, then the results of such scatterings are summarized in the structure functions lV, and W " which depend on the virtual photon's laboratory energy v and invariant mass squared q'. Considered as a collision between the exchanged virtual photon and the proton, one is studying the total cross section for the process "y" +P-had