Taming the Energy Rise of the Total Proton-Proton Cross-Section

Abstract

Steep rise of parton densities in the limit of small parton momentum fraction x poses a challenge for describing the observed energy-dependence of the total and inelastic proton-proton cross sections σ p p tot / inel : considering a realistic parton spatial distribution, one obtains a too-strong increase of σ p p tot / inel in the limit of very high energies. We discuss various mechanisms which allow one to tame such a rise, paying special attention to the role of parton-parton correlations. In addition, we investigate a potential impact on model predictions for σ p p tot, related to dynamical higher twist corrections to parton-production processes.