Light-front pion exchange in elastic electron-deuteron scattering

The pion-exchange contribution to the electromagnetic current of the deuteron is calculated perturbatively in the context of a field-theoretical approach on the light front. The deuteron charge and magnetic and quadrupole form factors are calculated for the Paris and Bonn-B two-nucleon potential models. The description of the experimental deuteron charge form factor is improved for both potentials models over the impulse approximation. copyright 1996 The American Physical Society