Variational mass perturbation theory for light-front bound-state equations

We investigate the mesonic light-front bound-state equations of the 't Hooft and Schwinger model in the two-particle, i.e., valence, sector, for a small fermion mass. We perform a high precision determination of the mass and light-cone wave function of the lowest lying meson by combining fermion mass perturbation theory with a variational approach. All calculations are done entirely in the fermionic representation without using any bosonization scheme. In a step-by-step procedure we enlarge the space of variational parameters. We achieve good convergence so that the calculation of the meson mass squared can be extended to third order in the fermion mass. Within a numerical treatment we include higher Fock states up to six particles. Our results are consistent with all previous numerical investigations, in particular lattice calculations. For the massive Schwinger model, we find a small discrepancy (2%) in comparison with known results. Possible resolutions of this discrepancy are discussed.