Higher twist distribution amplitudes of the nucleon in QCD Original Research Article

We present the first systematic study of higher-twist light-cone distribution amplitudes of the nucleon in QCD. We find that the valence three-quark state is described at small transverse separations by eight independent distribution amplitudes. One of them is leading twist-3, three distributions are twist-4 and twist-5, respectively, and one is twist-6. A complete set of distribution amplitudes is constructed, which satisfies equations of motion and constraints that follow from conformal expansion. Nonperturbative input parameters are estimated from QCD sum rules.