Nucleon deformation. A status report

The conjectured deformation of hadrons and its experimental verification offer a particularly fertile ground for understanding the intricate dynamics of their constituents and QCD at the confinement scale. The detailed study of the N→Δ transition is viewed as the preferred method of experimental investigation of this central issue in hadronic physics. A brief overview of the field is presented, followed by a presentation of the most recent results from Bates N→Δ program. The new Bates/OOPS data at Q2=0.127 GeV/c2 yield RSM=(-6.27±0.32stat+sys±0.10model)% and REM=(-2.00±0.40stat+sys ±0.27model)% and they exclude a spherical nucleon and/or Δ. The magnitude and the origin of the deformation is the focus of the ongoing and planned investigations. (orig.)