Four-quark flux distribution and binding in lattice SU(2) - art. no. 014504.

The full spatial distribution of the color fields of two and four static qu arks is measured in lattice SU(2) field theory at separations up to 1 fm at beta = 2.4. The four-quark case is equivalent to a q (q) over bar q (q) ov er bar system in SU(2) and is relevant to meson-meson interactions. By subt racting two-body flux tubes from the four-quark distribution we isolate the flux contribution connected with the four-body binding energy. This contri bution is further studied using a model for the binding energies. Lattice s um rules for two and four quarks are used to verify the results. [S0556-282 1(98)02223-1].