Forward elastic scattering: Dynamical gluon mass and semihard interactions

TL;DR

This paper investigates how low-x parton dynamics and a crossing-odd Odderon component influence high-energy forward elastic scattering observables at the LHC, using a QCD-based model with various parton distributions and energy-dependent form factors.

Contribution

It introduces a QCD-based model analyzing the impact of different parton distributions and the Odderon on forward scattering at high energies, highlighting the importance of crossing-odd contributions.

Findings

The data at 13 TeV suggest a significant role for the Odderon in forward scattering.

Different parton distributions affect the predictions of total cross sections and rho parameter.

The energy dependence of the semihard form factor influences forward scattering observables.

Abstract

The role of low-$x$ parton dynamics in dictating the high-energy behavior of forward scattering observables at LHC energies is investigated using a QCD-based model with even-under-crossing amplitude dominance at high-energies. We explore the effects of different sets of pre- and post-LHC fine-tuned parton distributions on the forward quantities $\sigma_{tot}$ and $\rho$, from $pp$ and $\bar{p}p$ scattering in the interval 10 GeV - 13 TeV. We also investigate the role of the leading soft contribution, the low-energy cuttoff, and the energy dependence of the semihard form factor on these observables. We show that in all cases investigated the highly restrictive data on $\rho$ parameter at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV indicate that a crossing-odd component may play a crucial role in forward elastic scattering at the highest energies. In the Regge language an odd-under-crossing object is called Odderon.