Comment on ''Subtleties of Lorentz invariance and Shapes of the Nucleon''
The paper on ''Subtleties of Lorentz invariance and Shapes of the Nucleon'' by Kvinikhidze and Miller (referred to as KM) was originally submitted as a comment on our manuscript ''A pure S-wave covariant model for the nucleon'' (referred to as GRP1). KM claimed that the definition of polarization states used in GRP1 was not covariant. Subsequently, GRP1 was rejected by the Physical Review (for reasons having nothing to do with the definition of the polarization states), the KM ''comment'' was accepted by Physical Review (now reclassified as a brief report), and we have nearly completed two new papers, one that is a substantial revision and replacement of GRP1 and another that applies these ideas to the {gamma}* + N {yields} {Delta} transition (we refer to these two papers collectively as GRP2). To add to the confusion, Kvinikhidze and Miller used the unpublished ''advisory report'' [prepared by one of us (FG) as part of the original review process] to revise their original draft. This advisory report contained a more complete discussion of our new definition of polarization states, a discussion not yet published anywhere (but included in more detail in GRP2, the papers we are preparing for publication). At this moment we find ourselves in the unusual position of being criticized for work that is either not yet published or exists only in a referee's report. The purposes of this comment are (i) to present the issues (referred to by KM but unpublished by us) in a coherent way that explains the physics, leaving a more complete discussion for GRP2, (ii) to answer the objections of KM, and (iii) to set the record straight (partly accomplished in this Introduction). The remainder of this comment is divided into three sections. In Sec. II, building on the physical intuition introduced in GRP1, we present a coherent discussion of wave functions and currents based on the new fixed-axis polarization vectors and show that they are covariant. In Sec. III we discuss one issue raised by KM and not addressed by us in any of our work so far: the comparison of wave functions defined with fixed-axis states and wave functions defined with helicity states. Finally, Sec. IV draws some conclusions.
- Research Organization:
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE - Office of Energy Research (ER)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-06OR23177
- OSTI ID:
- 910903
- Report Number(s):
- JLAB-THY-07-700; DOE/OR/23177-0107; TRN: US0800568
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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