2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/192492A confining, Goldstone theorem preserving, separable Ansatz for the ladder kernel of the two-body Bethe-Salpeter equation is constructed from phenomenologically efficacious $u$, $d$ and $s$ dressed-quark propagators. The simplicity of the approach is its merit. It provides a good description of the ground-state isovector-pseudoscalar, vector and axial-vector meson spectrum; facilitates an exploration of the relative importance of various components of the two-body Bethe-Salpeter amplitudes, showing that sub-leading Dirac components are quantitatively important in the isovector-pseudoscalar meson channels; and allows a scrutiny of the domain of applicability of ladder truncation studies. A colour-antitriplet diquark spectrum is obtained. Shortcomings of separable Ansätze and the ladder kernel are highlighted.30 pages, LaTeX/REVTEX 3.0, no figuresNuclear TheoryHigh Energy Physics - Phenomenologytext