Scale Invariance and Current Commutators Near the Light Cone

Abstract

Consequences of the assumption that current commutators have power-type singularities near the light cone are derived. An extension of Wilson's short-distance expansion of commutators is suggested for almost lightlike distances. Consequences for power-type singularities are derived for processes involving currents. Especially, generalized scaling laws are obtained for inelastic electron-nucleon scattering. The connection with Regge behavior is discussed. An application to electron-positron annihilation into hadrons is also made.