Asymptotic Scenarios for the Proton's Central Opacity: An Empirical Study

TL;DR

This paper analyzes experimental data on proton-proton and antiproton-proton scattering to explore different asymptotic behaviors of the ratio between elastic and total cross-sections, favoring a scenario below the black-disk limit.

Contribution

It introduces a novel empirical parametrization of the ratio and investigates three asymptotic scenarios in a model-independent manner.

Findings

Favored asymptotic ratio below black-disk limit: 0.36 ± 0.08

Supports scenario below the black-disk limit for proton scattering

Provides a model-independent analysis over a wide energy range

Abstract

We present a model-independent analysis of the experimental data on the ratio $X$ between the elastic and total cross-sections from $pp$ and $\bar{p}p$ scattering in the c.m. energy interval 5 GeV - 8 TeV. Using a novel empirical parametrization for that ratio as a function of the energy and based on theoretical and empirical arguments, we investigate three distinct asymptotic scenarios: either the black-disk (BD) limit or scenarios above and below that limit. Our analysis favors a scenario below the BD, with asymptotic ratio $X = 0.36 \pm 0.08$.