Bethe–Salpeter Bound-State Solutions: Examining Semirelativistic Approaches

Abstract

Within the formalism of relativistic quantum field theory an adequate framework for the description of two-particle bound states, such as, for instance, all conventional (i.e., non-exotic) mesons, is provided by the Poincaré-covariant homogeneous Bethe–Salpeter equation. In applications, however, this approach usually proves to be rather involved, whence it is not always quite easy to extract the predictions sought. In view of this, a coarse idea of the bound-state spectrum to be expected might be gained by adhering to some simplifying approximations – which constitutes an entirely legitimate first step. The reliability of the insights inferred from the arising simpler bound-state equation may be straightforwardly examined by taking into account a couple of rigorous constraints on the obtained discrete spectrum. Application of these tools is illustrated for popular potentials.