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Abstract

Abstract The mass spectrum of tetraquark states is examined using the spinless Salpeter equation alongside the Cornell potential. Analytical wave functions are derived through a variational approach, resulting in a specific mass formula for the bound states. This study investigates the mass spectra of heavy tetraquark states within a constituent diquark-antidiquark model. We employ a spinless Salpeter equation framework, incorporating the Cornell potential to describe the interaction between the diquark and antidiquark constituents. To account for relativistic effects, we utilize first-order perturbation theory to include the leading-order kinetic energy corrections arising from the expansion of the relativistic kinetic energy operator. A variational approach is adopted to determine the ground state masses, where the optimal variational parameter $${\beta }$$ β is found by minimizing the system’s energy and then for higher states. We systematically calculate the masses of several experimentally observed and predicted tetraquark candidates, across a range of strong coupling constant values. Our results demonstrate a sensitivity of the calculated tetraquark masses, and the model provides theoretical mass predictions that are in reasonable agreement with experimental observations for these exotic hadronic states. This work contributes to a deeper understanding of the internal structure and dynamics of heavy tetraquarks.