Present Phenomenological Status of the Regge Pole Theory

Abstract

Few theories have generated so much emotion amongst physicists as the Regge Pole theory has \ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{} and still does. With the gradual accumulation of a vast amount of precise experimental data, it has become possible to attempt to give an objective survey of the present status of the theory in relation to experiment. The analysis herein is restricted to elastic and charge-exchange scattering processes in the region of high energies and small momentum transfers. A strong distinction is made between strictly forward ($t=0$) and nonforward ($t\ensuremath{\lesssim}0$) processes. In discussing the latter, an attempt is made to examine the phenomenological validity of the so called "factorisation theorem," the proof of which depends critically upon the assumption of the Regge poles being simple poles.