A mass formula for light mesons from a potential model

Abstract

The quark dynamics inside light mesons, except pseudoscalar ones, can be quite well described by a spinless Salpeter equation supplemented by a Cornell interaction (possibly partly vector, partly scalar). A mass formula for these mesons can then be obtained by computing analytical approximations of the eigenvalues of the equation. We show that such a formula can be derived by combining the results of two methods: the dominantly orbital state description and the Bohr–Sommerfeld quantization approach. The predictions of the mass formula are compared with accurate solutions of the spinless Salpeter equation computed with a Lagrange-mesh calculation method.