Electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon in effective field theory

Abstract: We calculate the electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon to third chiral order in manifestly Lorentz-invariant effective field theory. The rho and omega mesons as well as the Delta(1232) resonance are included as explicit dynamical degrees of freedom. To obtain a self-consistent theory with respect to constraints we consider the proper relations among the couplings of the effective Lagrangian. For the purpose of generating a systematic power counting, the extended on-mass-shell renormalization scheme is applied in combination with the small-scale expansion. The results for the electric and magnetic Sachs form factors are analyzed in terms of experimental data and compared to previous findings in the framework of chiral perturbation theory. The pion-mass dependence of the form factors is briefly discussed.