Using an almost complete relativistic method based on the Bethe–Salpeter equation, we study the mixing angle $$\theta $$
θ
, the mass splitting $$\bigtriangleup M$$
△
M
, the strong decay widths $$\Gamma (D^{({\prime })}_1)$$
Γ
(
D
1
(
′
)
)
and the weak production rates $$Br(B\rightarrow D^{({\prime })}_1\ell \nu _{\ell })$$
B
r
(
B
→
D
1
(
′
)
ℓ
ν
ℓ
)
of the $$D_1(2420)$$
D
1
(
2420
)
and $$D_1^{\prime }(2430)$$
D
1
′
(
2430
)
. We find there is the strong cancellation between the $$^1P_1$$
1
P
1
and $$^3P_1$$
3
P
1
partial waves in $$D_1^{\prime }(2430)$$
D
1
′
(
2430
)
with $$\theta \sim -\,35.3^{\circ }$$
θ
∼
-
35
.
3
∘
, which leads to the ‘1/2 vs 3/2’ puzzle. The puzzle can not be overcome by adding only relativistic corrections since in a large parameter range where $$\bigtriangleup M$$
△
M
is linear varying and not small, the $$\theta $$
θ
, $$\Gamma (D^{({\prime })}_1)$$
Γ
(
D
1
(
′
)
)
and $$Br(B\rightarrow D^{({\prime })}_1\ell \nu _{\ell })$$
B
r
(
B
→
D
1
(
′
)
ℓ
ν
ℓ
)
remain almost unchanged but conflict with data. While in a special range around the mass inverse point where $$\bigtriangleup M=0$$
△
M
=
0
and $$\theta =\pm \, 90^{\circ }$$
θ
=
±
90
∘
, they change rapidly but we find the windows where $$\bigtriangleup M$$
△
M
, $$\Gamma (D^{({\prime })}_1)$$
Γ
(
D
1
(
′
)
)
and $$Br(B\rightarrow D^{({\prime })}_1\ell \nu _{\ell })$$
B
r
(
B
→
D
1
(
′
)
ℓ
ν
ℓ
)
are all consistent with data. The small $$\bigtriangleup M$$
△
M
confirmed by experiment, is crucial to solve the ‘1/2 vs 3/2’ puzzle.