Electron excitation of nucleon resonances: Structure functions and transition form factors

The electron excitation of nucleon resonances is discussed both from the theoretical and from the experimental point of view. This discussion is based on a phenomenological approach that employs the conservation of the electromagnetic and vector-meson hadronic currents and the requirements of limiting chiral invariance. For the electron excitation of J^π=1/2^±,3/2^±,5/2^±,... nucleon resonances, the structure functions are defined in terms of Sachs transition form factors. The resulting resonance structure functions for l+N → l+R processes are used in parametrizing smooth (background) structure functions for l+N → l+X inelastic scattering.