Applications of the NN bound-state problem: The deuteron and the 4,4 resonance

The relativistic three-body equations for the bound-state problem proposed by the authors are solved for the NN system, in particular for the states with total isospin zero and two. In the case of isospin zero, only one bound state is found which corresponds precisely to the deuteron and whose wave function is quite similar to those of phenomenological models. In the case of isospin two, the most favorable configuration to possess a bound state is with total angular momentum two and positive space parity. There is experimental evidence, however, that the state is unbound; that means that it will appear as a resonance of spin two and isospin two which we call the 4,4 resonance since it is the analog to the well-known 3,3 resonance in the N system which has spin (3/2) and isospin (3/2).. AE