Electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon

Abstract The internal structure of proton and neutron is manifested in a variety of observables. The form factors for elastic electron scattering which describe the distribution of charge and magnetic moments provide information vital for our understanding of the confined quark system. The form factors of the proton could be measured over a wide range of momentum transfer through the conventional method of Rosenbluth separation. The determination of the neutron form factors is more demanding; it will now benefit from coincidence experiments at modern cw accelerators. For the neutron charge form factor a measurement of the asymmetry in the scattering of high energy polarised electrons from polarised targets or the spin transfer to the recoiling neutron from unpolarised targets promises a big improvement. Experiments of this type have already been started and deliver first results.