Relativistic contributions to the deuteron electromagnetic form factors

Abstract

The deuteron electromagnetic form factors are calculated in the framework of the Bethe-Salpeter equation with multirank separable interactions. The only approximation made is the restriction to positive-energy states. A comparison is presented with the predictions of nonrelativistic, minimally relativistic, and other approximative calculations. The most important relativistic effect turns out to be the boost on the single-particle propagator due to recoil, in accordance with an earlier investigation.