BETHE-SALPETER WAVE-FUNCTIONS AND TRANSITION AMPLITUDES FOR HEAVY MESONS

The most general form of covariant B-S wave functions and the correspo nding integral equations for heavy mesons with arbitrary spin and pari ty are obtained in the infinite mass limit. A general formula for the I-W functions for transitions between states with arbitrary spin-parit y and the ground state is given in terms of these wave functions. Usin g the covariant instantaneous approximation we apply this formulism to calculate I-W functions r1/2, r3/2 and rates of processes in which a pi or gamma is emitted in the transitions 1- --> 0-, 0+ --> 0-, 1+ --> 1-.