A Relativistic Coupled-Channel Formalism for Electromagnetic Form Factors of 2-Body Bound States

We discuss a Poincaré invariant coupled-channel formalism which is based on the point-form of relativistic quantum mechanics. Electromagnetic scattering of an electron by a 2-body bound state is treated as a 2-channel problem for a Bakamjian-Thomas-type mass operator. In this way retardation effects in the photon-exchange interaction are fully taken into account. The electromagnetic current of the 2-body bound state is then extracted from the one-photon-exchange optical potential. As an application we calculate electromagnetic pion and deuteron form factors. Wrong cluster properties, inherent in the Bakamjian-Thomas framework, are seen to cause spurious (unphysical) contributions in the current. These are separated and eliminated in an unambiguous way such that one is left with a current that has all the desired properties.