A Poincar\'e Covariant Current Operator for Deep Inelastic Structure Functions and Deuteron Electromagnetic Properties

Abstract

In front-form dynamics the current operator can be constructed from auxiliary operators, defined in a Breit frame where initial and final three-momenta of the system are directed along the $z$ axis. Poincar\'e covariance constraints reduce for auxiliary operators to the ones imposed only by kinematical rotations around the $z$ axis. Elastic and transition form factors can be extracted without any ambiguity and in the elastic case the continuity equation is automatically satisfied, once Poincar\'e, ${\cal P}$ and ${\cal T}$ covariance, together with hermiticity, are imposed. Applications to deep inelastic structure functions in an exactly solvable model and to the calculation of the deuteron electromagnetic form factors are presented.