A stationary relativistic representation of the bound state

Abstract

We show that a bound system in momentum space can be treated like a gas of free elementary constituents and a collective excitation of a background field which represents the countless quantum fluctuations generating the binding potential. The distribution function of the internal momenta in the bound system at rest is given by the projection of the solution of a relativistic bound state equation on the free wave functions of the elementary constituents. The 4-momentum carried by the collective excitation is the difference between the bound state 4-momentum and the sum of the free 4-momenta. This definiton ensures the explicit fulfilment of Lorentz covariance, mass-shell constraints and single particle normalizability of the bound state function. The discussion is made for a two particle bound state and can be easily generalized to the case of three or more particles.