QCD string in the baryon

The QCD motivated constituent string model is extended to consider the baryon. The system of three quarks propagating in a confining background field is studied in the Wilson loop approach, and the effective action is obtained. The resulting Lagrangian at large interquark distances corresponds to the Mercedes Bent string configuration. Under the assumption that quarks are sufficiently heavy to allow the adiabatic separation of quark and string-junction motions, the use of hyperspherical expansion for the quark subsystem makes it possible to write and solve the classical equation of motion for the junction. The motion of the junction is quantized, and it is shown that the effective ''swelling'' of the baryon in relation to the standard potential picture occurs as the result of taking these modes into account. Effects associated with a finite pluon-correlation length, which do not affect excited states, but which appear to be substantial for the baryon ground state, reducing the ''swelling'' considerably and leaving room to the short-range Coulomb force in the three-quark system, are discussed.