Algebraic Treatment of Collective Excitations in Baryon Spectroscopy

We present an algebraic U(7) model for baryons which encompasses both single-particle and collective forms of quark dynamics. The mass operator by construction preserves the permutation symmetry between identical quarks. The underlying geometric structure of baryons is discussed in terms of a rigid rotating and vibrating oblate top shape. The model is applied to the mass spectrum of nonstrange baryons.