Abstract

Charm and bottom baryons and mesons are studied within the framework of a relativistically covariant 3D reduction of the Bethe-Salpeter equation. We carry out an analysis of semileptonic decays of heavy hadrons within this framework using explicit oscillator-type wave functions where we calculate Isgur-Wise functions, decay rates and asymmetry parameters. Within this model we also study the effect of interactions between the light quarks inside the heavy baryon and how they affect the values of the computed heavy baryon observables. We also elaborate on the role of relativistic effects in the calculation of the heavy baryon Isgur-Wise function. [S0556-2821(99)01007-3].