Poincare covariant current operator and elastic electron-deuteron scattering in the front-form Hamiltonian dynamics -: art. no. 064004

The deuteron electromagnetic form factors, A(Q(2)) and B(Q(2)), and the tensor polarization T-20(Q(2)), are unambiguously calculated within the front-form relativistic Hamiltonian dynamics, by using a novel current, built up from one-body terms, which fulfills Poincare, parity, and time reversal covariance, together with Hermiticity and the continuity equation. A simultaneous description of the experimental data for the three deuteron form factors is achieved up to Q(2)<0.4 (GeV/c)(2). At higher momentum transfer, different nucleon-nucleon interactions strongly affect A(Q(2)), B(Q(2)), and T-20(Q(2)), and the effects of the interactions can be related to S-state kinetic energy in the deuteron. Different nucleon form factor models have huge effects on A(Q(2)), smaller effects on B(Q(2)), and essentially none on T-20(Q(2)).