  Identifying the correct low-energy effective theory for magnons and holes in
an antiferromagnet has remained an open problem for a long time. In analogy to
the effective theory for pions and nucleons in QCD, based on a symmetry
analysis of Hubbard and t-J-type models, we construct a systematic low-energy
effective field theory for magnons and holes located inside pockets centered at
lattice momenta (\pm pi/2a,\pm pi/2a). The effective theory is based on a
nonlinear realization of the spontaneously broken spin symmetry and makes
model-independent universal predictions for the entire class of lightly doped
antiferromagnetic precursors of high-temperature superconductors. The
predictions of the effective theory are exact, order by order in a systematic
low-energy expansion. We derive the one-magnon exchange potentials between two
holes in an otherwise undoped system. Remarkably, in some cases the
corresponding two-hole Schr\"odinger equations can even be solved analytically.
The resulting bound states have d-wave characteristics. The ground state wave
function of two holes residing in different hole pockets has a d_{x^2-y^2}-like
symmetry, while for two holes in the same pocket the symmetry resembles d_{xy}.
