QUARK CORRELATION-FUNCTIONS IN THE PROTON

The colour-magnetic interaction of QCD with a smearing function found from the fit to the rho-pi splitting is strong enough to support a bou nd state of a singlet q $$($) over bar q pair. We examine the possibil ity that this interaction leads to short-range quark-quark correlation s in light baryons thereby providing the dynamical mechanism for a qua rk-diquark picture of the proton. In particular, we show that the corr elation function of a singlet diquark in the proton is strongly enhanc ed at the origin (compared to that for the triplet diquark) with the c orrelation radius T-0, a typical cut-off radius in the spin interactio n. The Fourier transform of the correlation function, which is related to the dependence on the momentum transfer of the structure functions in inclusive electron-proton scattering, may provide quite fundamenta l information on the diquark structure of the proton.