ar X iv : h ep - p h / 03 07 33 6 v 1 2 8 Ju l 2 00 3 The sigma - term form factor of the nucleon in the large - N c limit

The scalar isoscalar form factor of the nucleon is calculated in the limit of a large number of colours in the framework of the chiral quark-soliton model. The calculation is based on an approximation justified by arguments from the instanton model of the QCD vacuum, from which the chiral quark-soliton model was derived. The simple parameter-free result reproduces all features of the form factor observed in previous exact calculations in that model and in chiral perturbation theory, and well agrees with the available phenomenological information. The Feynman-Hellmann theorem is used to study the pion mass dependence of the nucleon mass and a good agreement with lattice QCD results is observed.