Reply to comment on "The $\sigma$-meson: four-quark vs. two-quark components and decay width in a Bethe-Salpeter approach"

TL;DR

This paper defends previous work on the $\sigma$-meson by clarifying that the critique regarding the Bethe-Salpeter equations is unfounded, reaffirming the validity of their approach.

Contribution

The authors refute claims of inconsistency in their Bethe-Salpeter equations, reaffirming the robustness of their four-quark and two-quark component analysis of the $\sigma$-meson.

Findings

The critique of the Bethe-Salpeter equations is unfounded.

The original approach remains valid and consistent.

The $\sigma$-meson components are reliably analyzed.

Abstract

In a recent comment [1] Blankleider and Kvinikhidze claim that our work [2] is based on a set of inconsistent Bethe-Salpeter equations for the coupling of four-quark to two-quark states. Here we demonstrate that their argument is insubstantial.