Inter-particle potentials in a scalar QFT with a Higgs-like mediating field

Abstract: We study the inter-particle potentials for few-particle systems in a scalar theory with a non-linear mediating field of the Higgs type. We use the variational method, in a reformulated Hamiltonian formalism of QFT, to derive relativistic three and four particle wave equations for stationary states of these systems. We show that the cubic and quartic non-linear terms modify the attractive Yukawa potentials but do not change the attractive nature of the interaction if the mediating fields are massive.