Hadron production in lepton-nucleon scattering

This review is concerned with hadron production in deep-inelastic lepton-nucleon scattering (lepto-production) l + N → l' hadrons. The symbol N stands for neutron (n) or proton (p). The available data are almost exclusively restricted to electroproduction (l = l' = electron,e, or l = l' = charged muon,μ+-) and to charged current muon-neutrino interactions (l = νsub(μ),l' = μ-, or l = ν-barsub(μ),l' = μ+). Where appropriate a comparison will be made with the results from electron-positron annihilation: e+ + e- → hadrons. The conventional view of the reaction mechanisms involved is that they proceed by the exchange of vector-bosons which interact with the target nucleon to produce hadrons. Specifically charged current neutrino interactions involve the exchange of a charged vector-boson (W+,W-) and the charged lepton interactions a virtual photon (Ysub(v)) exchange. The annihilation process occurs through the intermediate state of a single photon which materializes into hadrons; there is no target. In all cases the exchanged or intermediate particle is virtual, being space-like in the lepto-production interactions and time-like for annihilation. (author)