Relativistic form factors for hadrons with quark-model wave functions

Abstract

The relationship between relativistic form factors and quark-potential-model wave functions is examined using an improved version of an approach by Licht and Pagnamenta. Lorentz-contraction effects are expressed in terms of an effective hadron mass which varies as the square root of the number of quark constituents. The effective mass is calculated using the rest-frame wave functions from the mean-square momentum along the direction of the momentum transfer. Applications with the parameter-free approach are made to the elastic form factors of the pion, proton, and neutron using a Hamiltonian which simultaneously describes mesons and baryons. A comparison of the calculated radii for pions and kaons suggests that the measured kaon radius should be slightly smaller than the corresponding pion radius. The large negative squared charge radius for the neutron is partially explained via the quark model but a full description requires the inclusion of a small component of a pion ''cloud'' configuration. The problematic connection between the sizes of hadrons deduced from form factors and the ''measured'' values of average transverse momenta is reconciled in the present model.