Point-form analysis of elastic deuteron form factors

Point-form relativistic quantum mechanics is applied to elastic electron-deuteron scattering. The deuteron is modeled using relativistic interactions that are scattering-equivalent to the nonrelativistic Argonne v₁₈ and Reid '93 interactions. A point-form spectator approximation (PFSA) is introduced to define a conserved covariant current in terms of single-nucleon form factors. The PFSA is shown to provide an accurate description of data up to momentum transfers of 0.5 GeV², but falls below the data at higher momentum transfers. Results are sensitive to the nucleon form factor parametrization chosen, particularly to the neutron electric form factor.