We use Dirac’s constraint dynamics to obtain a Hamiltonian formulation of the relativistic N-body problem in a separable two-body basis in which the particles interact pairwise through scalar and vector interactions. The resultant N-body Hamiltonian is relativistically covariant. It can be easily separated in terms of the center of mass and the relative motion of any two-body subsystem. It can also be separated into an unperturbed Hamiltonian with a residual interaction. In a system of two-body composite particles, the solutions of the unperturbed Hamiltonian are relativistic two-body internal states, each of which can be obtained by solving a relativistic Schrödinger-like equation. The resultant two-body wave functions can be used as basis states to evaluate reaction matrix elements in the general N-body problem. We prove a relativistic version of the post-prior equivalence which guarantees a unique evaluation of the reaction matrix element, independent of the ways of separating the Hamiltonian into unperturbed and residual interactions. Since an arbitrary reaction matrix element involves composite particles in motion, we show explicitly how such matrix elements can be evaluated in terms of the wave functions of the composite particles and the relevant Lorentz transformations.

• Received 3 October 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.63.044907