Transition between nuclear and quark-gluon descriptions of hadrons and light nuclei

We provide a perspective on studies aimed at observing the transition between hadronic and quark-gluonic descriptions of reactions involving light nuclei. We begin by summarizing the results for relatively simple reactions such as the pion form factor and the neutral pion transition form factor as well as that for the nucleon and end with exclusive photoreactions in our simplest nuclei. A particular focus will be on reactions involving the deuteron. It is noted that a firm understanding of these issues is essential for unraveling important structure information from processes such as deeply virtual Compton scattering as well as deeply virtual meson production. The connection to exotic phenomena such as color transparency will be discussed. A number of outstanding challenges will require new experiments at modern facilities on the horizon as well as further theoretical developments.Comment: 37 pages, 17 figures, submitted to Reports on Progress in Physic

QCD and strongly coupled gauge theories : challenges and perspectives

We highlight the progress, current status, and open challenges of QCD-driven physics, in theory and in experiment. We discuss how the strong interaction is intimately connected to a broad sweep of physical problems, in settings ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to strongly coupled, complex systems in particle and condensed-matter physics, as well as to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. We also discuss how success in describing the strong interaction impacts other fields, and, in turn, how such subjects can impact studies of the strong interaction. In the course of the work we offer a perspective on the many research streams which flow into and out of QCD, as well as a vision for future developments.Peer reviewe