A covariant view on the nucleons' quark core

Established results for the quark propagator in Landau gauge QCD, together with a detailed comparison to lattice data, are used to formulate a Poincare-covariant Faddeev approach to the nucleon. The resultant three-quark amplitudes describe the quark core of the nucleon. The nucleon's mass and its electromagnetic form factors are calculated as functions of the current quark mass. The corresponding results together with charge radii and magnetic moments are discussed in connection with the contributions from various ingredients in a consistent calculation of nucleon properties, as well as the role of the pion cloud in such an approach. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.