Theoretical Ideas on Inelastic Electron and Muon Scattering

It is an indication of the state of the subject that I am going to talk about that only one paper was contributed to this conference on the theory of inelastic electron scattering. It cannot be stressed too much how ignorant we are of what goes on in this area. Furthermore, I think that it is a region which is unique in particle physics in that we may be able to learn in other ways. I will divide this talk into 3 parts. The first will be a rapid review of routine items such as what we know about this process. It is kinematics and not much more: for example, what the general form of the cross section is, how many form factors, the limit of photoabsorption, the consequences of ne photon exchange, etc, as well as a few words about radiative corrections.