Eur. Phys. J. C (2012) 72: 1925
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-012-1925-1

Regular Article - Theoretical Physics

Spin–orbit splittings in heavy-light mesons and Dirac equation

¹ National Centre for Physics, Quaid-i-Azam University Campus, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
² Centre for Advance Mathematics and Physics, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan

^* e-mail: riazuddin@ncp.edu.pk

Received: 24 December 2011
Revised: 6 February 2012
Published online: 13 March 2012

Abstract

The spin–orbit splitting in heavy-light mesons is seen to be suppressed experimentally, which may be due to a relativistic dynamical symmetry for the Dirac Hamiltonian. An alternative derivation of such a symmetry is given. Furthermore, the dynamics necessary for a qualitative understanding of the spin–orbit splitting seen experimentally is discussed.