Off-forward quark distributions of the nucleon in the large-Nclimit

We study the off-forward quark distributions (OFQD’s) in the chiral quark-soliton model of the nucleon. This model is based on the large-$N_c$ picture of the nucleon as a soliton of the effective chiral Lagrangian and allows one to calculate the leading twist quark and antiquark distributions at a low normalization point. We demonstrate the consistency of the approach by checking various sum rules for the OFQD’s. We present numerical estimates of the isosinglet distribution $H(x,\xi ,{\Delta }^2)$. In contrast with other approaches we find a strong qualitative dependence on the longitudinal momentum transfer, $\xi$. In particular, $H(x,\xi ,{\Delta }^2)$ as a function of $x$ exhibits fast crossovers at $|x|=\xi /2\mathrm{}$. Such behavior could lead to a considerable enhancement of the deeply virtual Compton scattering cross section.