The Structure of Hadrons and Quantum Chromodynamics

The Standard Model theory of strong interactions that is based on SU(3)C symmetry - QCD -- is simple and elegant, yet using it to derive predictions for strongly interacting systems at low energies remains a formidable theoretical challenge. A variety of tools can be applied to this task, including the QCD-inspired models of hadrons, effective field theories (EFTs), and first-principles computations in QCD using lattice gauge theory methods. An important component of my research has been the use of EFT methods - particularly chiral perturbation theory (cPT) - to understand hadronic properties and their interactions in QCD. My collaborators and I have analyzed a variety of hadronic properties using cPT - including baryon magnetic moments and charge radii, hadronic contributions to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, and the contributions from strange quarks to the nucleon's electromagnetic properties. In addition, I have also focused on the use of cPT to analyze the electroweak properties of baryons, such as the parity violating coupling of the nucleon and pion that arises from the underlying weak interaction of quarks and the nucleon-to-D isobar transition form factors that can be measured with PV electron scattering experiments.

Most recently, I have begun participation the lattice QCD program through a project with a student at Caltech and collaborators at MIT. The project involves perturbative renormalization of lattice matrix elements - a task that must be performed in order to compare the results of lattice computations with experimental observables.