Poincaré covariant current operator and elastic electron-deuteron scattering in the front-form Hamiltonian dynamics

Abstract

The deuteron electromagnetic form factors, $A(Q^2)$ and $B(Q^2)$, and the tensor polarization $T_{20}(Q^2)$, are unambiguously calculated within the front-form relativistic Hamiltonian dynamics, by using a novel current, built up from one-body terms, which fulfills Poincar\'e, parity and time reversal covariance, together with Hermiticity and the continuity equation. A simultaneous description of the experimental data for the three deuteron form factors is achieved up to $Q^2 < 0.4 (GeV/c)^2$. At higher momentum transfer, different nucleon-nucleon interactions strongly affect $A(Q^2)$, $B(Q^2)$, and $T_{20}(Q^2)$ and the effects of the interactions can be related to $S$-state kinetic energy in the deuteron. Different nucleon form factor models have huge effects on $A(Q^2)$, smaller effects on $B(Q^2)$ and essentially none on $T_{20}(Q^2)$.