Regge theory in a holographic dual of QCD in the Veneziano limit

Abstract

Abstract We initiate the study of Regge theory in a bottom-up holographic model for QCD in the Veneziano limit, where the backreaction of the quarks to the gluon dynamics is included. We determine the parameters of the model by carrying out a precise fit to the meson spectrum in QCD. The spectrum for spin-one and pseudoscalar mesons is well reproduced. We then generalise the model to incluce higher spin fields in the bulk trajectories dual to the Pomeron and meson Regge trajectories at the boundary. With this setting, we fit the masses of the mesons with spins J = 2, 3, and 4, as well as the experimental data of the total cross-sections σ(γγ → X), σ(γp → X) and σ(pp → X). For the cross sections we obtain a $$ {\chi}_{\mathrm{d}.\mathrm{o}.\mathrm{f}}^2 $$ χ d . o . f 2 of 0.74 for a total of 199 experimental points.