https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-021-00562-0
Review
Dispersion-theoretical analysis of the electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon: Past, present and future
1
Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik and Bethe Center for Theoretical Physics, Universität Bonn, 53115, Bonn, Germany
2
Department of Physics, Institut für Kernphysik, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 64289, Darmstadt, Germany
3
ExtreMe Matter Institute EMMI and Helmholtz Forschungsakademie Hessen für FAIR (HFHF), GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, 64291, Darmstadt, Germany
4
Institut für Kernphysik, Institute for Advanced Simulation and Jülich Center for Hadron Physics, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany
5
Tbilisi State University, 0186, Tbilisi, Georgia
Received:
17
June
2021
Accepted:
24
July
2021
Published online:
20
August
2021
We review the dispersion-theoretical analysis of the electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon. We emphasize in particular the role of unitarity and analyticity in the construction of the isoscalar and isovector spectral functions. We present new results on the extraction of the nucleon radii, the electric and magnetic form factors and the extraction of 
-meson couplings. All this is supplemented by a detailed calculation of the theoretical uncertainties, using bootstrap and Bayesian methods to pin down the statistical errors, while systematic errors are determined from variations of the spectral functions. We also discuss the physics of the time-like form factors and point out further issues to be addressed in this framework.
© The Author(s) 2021
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