Proton-proton diffractive collisions at ultra-high energies

TL;DR

This paper uses the Dakhno-Nikonov eikonal model to analyze proton-proton collisions at ultra-high energies, successfully describing existing data and predicting cross sections up to 10,000 TeV.

Contribution

It introduces a model incorporating quark and gluon structures to predict proton-proton scattering behavior at energies beyond current experiments.

Findings

Model fits preLHC and LHC data well

Predicts ln^2s growth of cross sections at ultra-high energies

Provides parameter estimates for supercritical pomeron

Abstract

Proton-proton total and elastic cross sections are considered in the Dakhno-Nikonov eikonal model [L.G. Dakhno, V.A. Nikonov, Eur. Phys. J. A8, 209 (1999)] at ultra-high energies. The model takes into account the quark structure of hadrons and the gluon structure of the supercritical pomeron that results in colour screening. The pomeron is considered as an input interaction term. The model gives a reasonably good description of the preLHC and LHC data for $pp$ collisions with a growth of the type $\ln^2s$ for total and elastic cross sections and $(\tau={\bf q}_\perp^2\ln^2s)$-scaling for diffractive scattering. We present parameters of the supercritical pomeron and provide predictions for the energy region $\sqrt{s}\sim 10^2-10^4$ TeV.