Heisenberg's matrix formulation of quantum mechanics can be generalized to relativistic systems by evolving in light-front time τ=t+z/c. The spectrum and wavefunctions of bound states, such as hadrons in quantum chromodynamics, can be obtained from matrix diagonalization of the light-front Hamiltonian on a finite dimensional light-front Fock basis defined using periodic boundary conditions in x~- and x_⊥. This method, discretized light-cone quantization (DLCQ), preserves the frame-independence of the front form even at finite resolution and particle number. Light-front quantization can also be used in the Hamiltonian form to construct an event generator for high energy physics reactions at the amplitude level. The light-front partition function, summed over exponentially-weighted light-front energies, has simple boost properties which may be useful for studies in heavy ion collisions. I also review recent work which shows that the structure functions measured in deep inelastic lepton scattering are affected by final-state rescattering, thus modifying their connection to light-front probability distributions. In particular, the shadowing of nuclear structure functions is due to destructive interference effects from leading-twist diffraction of the virtual photon, physics not included in the nuclear light-front wavefunctions.
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机译：通过演化光前时间τ= t + z / c，可以将海森堡的量子力学矩阵公式推广到相对论系统。束缚态的光谱和波函数，例如量子色动力学中的强子，可以通过使用x〜-和x_⊥中的周期性边界条件定义的有限维光前Fock基，从光前哈密顿量的矩阵对角线化获得。离散光锥量化（DLCQ）这种方法即使在有限的分辨率和粒子数下也能保持前形式的帧独立性。光前量化也可以哈密顿量形式使用，以构造一个事件发生器，用于在振幅水平上进行高能物理反应。光前分配函数与按指数加权的光前能量相加，具有简单的增强特性，这可能对研究重离子碰撞很有用。我还回顾了最近的工作，这些工作表明，在深层非弹性轻子散射中测得的结构函数会受到最终状态散射的影响，从而改变了它们与光前概率分布的联系。尤其是，核结构功能的遮盖是由于虚拟光子的前向扭曲衍射产生的相消干涉效应，物理不包括在核光前波函数中。
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