L\'evy Imaging of Elastic Hadron--Hadron Scattering: Odderon and Inner Structure of the Proton

Abstract

A novel model-independent L\'evy imaging method is employed for reconstruction of the elastic $pp$ and $p\bar p$ scattering amplitudes at low and high energies. The four-momentum transfer $t$ dependent elastic slope $B(t)$, the nuclear phase $\phi(t)$ as well as the excitation function of the shadow profile $P(b)$ have been extracted from data at ISR, Tevatron and LHC energies. We found qualitative differences in properties of $B(t)$ and $\phi(t)$ between $pp$ and for $p\bar p$ collisions, that indicate an Odderon effect. A proton substructure has also been identified and found to have two different sizes, comparable to that of a dressed quark at the ISR and of a dressed diquark at the LHC energies, respectively.