Covariant nucleon wave function with S, D, and P-state components

TL;DR

This paper derives a covariant nucleon wave function incorporating S, P, and D-wave components within the covariant spectator theory, providing a detailed model of nucleon structure with off-shell and on-shell quark constituents.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive covariant nucleon wave function including multiple angular momentum components, derived from the covariant spectator theory, enhancing the understanding of nucleon internal structure.

Findings

Derived explicit covariant wave functions with S, P, D components

Integrated over internal momenta to simplify the wave function

Provides a framework for analyzing nucleon structure in scattering experiments

Abstract

Expressions for the nucleon wave functions in the covariant spectator theory (CST) are derived. The nucleon is described as a system with a off-mass-shell constituent quark, free to interact with an external probe, and two spectator constituent quarks on their mass shell. Integrating over the internal momentum of the on-mass-shell quark pair allows us to derive an effective nucleon wave function that can be written only in terms of the quark and diquark (quark-pair) variables. The derived nucleon wave function includes contributions from S, P and D-waves.