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arXiv · 1812.02714

Defining the Proton Radius: a Unified Treatment

Gerald A. Miller
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Abstract

Background: There is significant current interest in knowing the value of the proton radius and also its proper definition. Purpose: Combine the disparate literatures of hydrogen spectroscopy and diverse modern parton distributions to show that the quantity $r_p^2\equiv -6 G_E'(0)$ is the relativistically proper definition that originates from the separate bodies of work. Methods: Use perturbation theory, light-front dynamics and elementary techniques to find relativistically correct definitions of the proton radius and charge density. Results: It is found that the very same proton radius is accessed by measurements of hydrogen spectroscopy and elastic lepton scattering. The derivation of the mean-square radius as a moment of a spherically symmetric three-dimensional density is shown to be incorrect. A relativistically-correct, two-dimensional charge density is related to the diverse modern literature of various parton distributions. Relativistically invariant moments thereof are derived in a new moment expansion, the RME.

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Gerald A. Miller. 2018-12-11. Defining the Proton Radius: a Unified Treatment. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevc.99.035202

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