arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Sofia Leitão.
We present results for the quark mass function in Minkowski space calculated from an interaction kernel that consists of an effective one-gluon-exchange and a constant interaction. We analyze the gauge dependence of our results and compare them in the spacelike region to the available lattice QCD data.
We present first results for the quark mass function in Minkowski space in both the spacelike and timelike regions calculated from the same quark-antiquark interaction kernel used in the latest meson calculations using the Gross equation. This kernel consists of a Lorentz vector effective one-gluon-exchange-type interaction, a vector constant, and a mixed scalar-pseudoscalar covariant linear confining interaction that does not contribute to the mass function. We analyze the gauge dependence of our results, prove the gauge independence of the constituent quark mass and mass gap equation, and identify the Yennie gauge as the appropriate gauge to be used in CST calculations. We compare our results in the spacelike region to lattice QCD data and find good agreement.
The masses and vertex functions of heavy and heavy-light mesons, described as quark-antiquark bound states, are calculated with the Covariant Spectator Theory (CST). We use a kernel with an adjustable mixture of Lorentz scalar, pseudoscalar, and vector linear confining interaction, together with a one-gluon-exchange kernel. A series of fits to the heavy and heavy-light meson spectrum were calculated, and we discuss what conclusions can be drawn from it, especially about the Lorentz structure of the kernel. We also apply the Brodsky-Huang-Lepage prescription to express the CST wave functions for heavy quarkonia in terms of light-front variables. They agree remarkably well with light-front wave functions obtained in the Hamiltonian basis light-front quantization (BLFQ) approach, even in excited states.
We use the covariant spectator theory with an effective quark-antiquark interaction, containing Lorentz scalar, pseudoscalar, and vector contributions, to calculate the masses and vertex functions of, simultaneously, heavy and heavy-light mesons. We perform least-square fits of the model parameters, including the quark masses, to the meson spectrum and systematically study the sensitivity of the parameters with respect to different sets of fitted data. We investigate the influence of the vector confining interaction by using a continuous parameter controlling its weight. We find that vector contributions to the confining interaction between 0% and about 30% lead to essentially the same agreement with the data. Similarly, the light quark masses are not very tightly constrained. In all cases, the meson mass spectra calculated with our fitted models agree very well with the experimental data. We also calculate the mesons wave functions in a partial wave representation and show how they are related to the meson vertex functions in covariant form.
We solve a Minkowski-space integral equation, derived in the Covariant Spectator Theory, for quark-antiquark bound states describing heavy and heavy-light mesons. The equation's kernel contains a one-gluon exchange interaction and a covariant generalization of a linear confining potential with a mixed scalar, pseudoscalar, and vector Lorentz structure, characterized by a continuous mixing parameter. We investigate to what extent the Lorentz structure of the confining kernel can be determined by fitting the mixing parameter to the meson spectrum.
In this work we compare mass spectra and decay constants obtained from two recent, independent, and fully relativistic approaches to the quarkonium bound-state problem: the Hamiltonian basis light-front quantization (BLFQ) approach, where light-front wave functions are naturally formulated; and, the covariant spectator theory (CST), based on a reorganization of the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Even though conceptually different, both solutions are obtained in Minkowski space. Comparisons of decay constants for more than ten states of charmonium and bottomonium show favorable agreement between the two approaches as well as with experiment where available. We also apply the Brodsky-Huang-Lepage prescription to convert the CST amplitudes into functions of light-front variables. This provides an ideal opportunity to investigate the similarities and differences at the level of the wave functions. Several qualitative features are observed in remarkable agreement between the two approaches even for the rarely addressed excited states. Leading twist distribution amplitudes as well as parton distribution functions of heavy quarkonia are also analyzed.
As an application of the Covariant Spectator Theory (CST) we calculate the spectrum of heavy-light and heavy-heavy mesons using covariant versions of a linear confining potential, a one- gluon exchange, and a constant interaction. The CST equations possess the correct one-body limit and are therefore well-suited to describe mesons in which one quark is much heavier than the other. We find a good fit to the mass spectrum of heavy-light and heavy-heavy mesons with just three parameters (apart from the quark masses). Remarkably, the fit parameters are nearly unchanged when we fit to experimental pseudoscalar states only or to the whole spectrum. Because pseudoscalar states are insensitive to spin-orbit interactions and do not determine spin-spin interactions separately from central interactions, this result suggests that it is the covariance of the kernel that correctly predicts the spin-dependent quark-antiquark interactions
In this work, we perform a covariant treatment of quark-antiquark systems. We calculate the spectra and wave functions using a formalism based on the Covariant Spectator Theory (CST). Our results not only reproduce very well the experimental data with a very small set of global parameters, but they also allow a direct test of the predictive power of covariant kernels.
The Covariant Spectator Theory (CST) is used to calculate the mass spectrum and vertex functions of heavy-light and heavy mesons in Minkowski space. The covariant kernel contains Lorentz scalar, pseudoscalar, and vector contributions. The numerical calculations are performed in momentum space, where special care is taken to treat the strong singularities present in the confining kernel. The observed meson spectrum is very well reproduced after fitting a small number of model parameters. Remarkably, a fit to a few pseudoscalar meson states only, which are insensitive to spin-orbit and tensor forces and do not allow to separate the spin-spin from the central interaction, leads to essentially the same model parameters as a more general fit. This demonstrates that the covariance of the chosen interaction kernel is responsible for the very accurate prediction of the spin-dependent quark-antiquark interactions.
Preliminary calculations using the Covariant Spectator Theory (CST) employed a scalar linear confining interaction and an additional constant vector potential to compute the mesonic mass spectra. In this work we generalize the confining interaction to include more general structures, in particular a vector and also a pseudoscalar part, as suggested by a recent study. A one-gluon-exchange kernel is also implemented to describe the short-range part of the interaction. We solve the simplest CST approximation to the complete Bethe-Salpeter equation, the one-channel spectator equation, using a numerical technique that eliminates all singularities from the kernel. The parameters of the model are determined through a fit to the experimental pseudoscalar meson spectra, with a good agreement for both quarkonia and heavy-light states.
Relativistic equations of Bethe-Salpeter type for hadron structure are most conveniently formulated in momentum space. The presence of confining interactions causes complications because the corresponding kernels are singular. This occurs not only in the relativistic case but also in the nonrelativistic Schrödinger equation where this problem can be studied more easily. For the linear confining interaction the singularity reduces to one of Cauchy principal value form. Although this singularity is integrable, it still makes accurate numerical solutions difficult. We show that this principal value singularity can be eliminated by means of a subtraction method. The resulting equation is much easier to solve and yields accurate and stable solutions. To test the method's numerical efficiency, we performed a three-parameter least-squares fit of a simple linear-plus-Coulomb potential to the bottomonium spectrum.
We are developing a covariant model for all mesons that can be described as quark-antiquark bound states in the framework of the Covariant Spectator Theory (CST) in Minkowski space. The kernel of the bound-state equation contains a relativistic generalization of a linear confining potential which is singular in momentum space and makes its numerical solution more difficult. The same type of singularity is present in the momentum-space Schrödinger equation, which is obtained in the nonrelativistic limit. We present an alternative, singularity-free form of the momentum-space Schrödinger equation which is much easier to solve numerically and which yields accurate and stable results. The same method will be applied to the numerical solution of the CST bound-state equations.