# Hollowness in pp scattering

## TL;DR

This paper investigates the hollowness effect in proton-proton scattering at LHC energies, attributing it to quantum effects and large real parts of the eikonal phase, challenging traditional incoherent absorption models.

## Contribution

It proposes a quantum origin for the hollowness effect, indicating a paradigm shift in understanding high-energy scattering processes.

## Key findings

- Hollowness arises from quantum effects in scattering.
- Large real parts of the eikonal phase are responsible.
- Incoherent superposition models are insufficient.

## Abstract

It is argued that the hollowness effect (depletion in the absorptive part of the scattering cross section at small values of the impact parameter) in the proton-proton scattering at the the LHC energies finds its origin in the quantum nature of the process, resulting in large values of the real part of the eikonal phase. The effect cannot be reconciled with an incoherent superposition of the absorption from the proton constituents, thus suggests the change of this basic paradigm of high-energy scattering.