The QCD Coupling and Parton Distributions at High Precision

Abstract

A survey is given on the present status of the nucleon parton distributions and related precision calculations and precision measurements of the strong coupling constant ${\alpha }_s(M_Z^2)$. We also discuss the impact of these quantities on precision observables at hadron colliders.

Comments: 15 pages, 5 figures, Dedicated to M. Gell-Mann on the occasion of his 80th birthday