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

Abstract

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.