Relativistic theory of the electrodisintegration of the deuteron — I

Abstract

The electrodisintegration of the deuteron e+d → e+n+p is treated in a fully covariant manner. In Part I theoretical aspects of the problem are examined in detail. The transition amplitude is written in terms of 18 Lorentz invariant forms, satisfying the requirement of gauge invariance. In a first application of this theory, only the nearest singularities are retained : those corresponding to the exchange of a nuoleon and of a deuteron in the crossed and direct channels, respectively. The deuteron structure in included by using n-p-d vertex functions depending on the momentum transfer, while the final-state interaction is treated by using dispersions for the multipole amplitudes. The theory makes it possible to remove some of the ambiguities which appear in the usual semi-relativistic calculations. Part II will be devoted to detailed numerical computations and to the determination of the neutron form factors in the range 3 fermi-2 ≤q2 ≤ 16 fermi-2.