Quark-hadron duality in structure functions - art. no. 054005

While quark-hadron duality is well established experimentally, the current theoretical understanding of this important phenomenon is quite limited. To expose the essential features of the dynamics behind duality, we use a sim ple model in which the hadronic spectrum consists of narrow resonances made of valence quarks. We qualitatively reproduce the features of duality as s een in electron scattering data within our model. We show that in order to observe duality, it is essential to use the appropriate scaling variable an d scaling function. In addition to its great intrinsic interest in connecti ng the quark-gluon and hadronic pictures, an understanding of quark-hadron duality could lead to important benefits in extending the applicability of scaling into previously inaccessible regions.