Proton−Proton Total Cross−Section Based On New Data of Colliders and Cosmic Rays

Abstract

High energy colliders (accelerators) are fundamental tools in many branches of science. Similarly, cosmic rays observatories are one of the windows to study the universe and high energy particle processes. The last advances in these fields are respectively the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) and the Pierre Auger Observatory. Among the main subjects studied in hadronic physics is the proton-proton (pp) elastic scattering. The Total Cross-Section (σpp), has been recently measured at 7 and 8 TeV in the LHC, and at 57 TeV in the Pierre Auger Observatory. Importance of the σpp lies in studies of elastic and diffractive scattering of protons, and to model the development of showers induced by the interaction of ultra high energy cosmic rays in the atmosphere. The gap in data between accelerators and cosmic ray experiment energies does not allow for the exact knowledge of σpp with energy. Furthermore, since cosmic rays results are of indirect nature, there is consequently a high dispersion in predictions of different authors at this regard. Using the new data, we show here that within the frame of the first-order Glauber multiple diffraction theory the overall data fits very successfully. Our results shows that σpp grows more slowly (compared with previous predictions), within narrow error bands that avoid any fast slope change. We predict that the future experimental value at 13 TeV from the LHC will fall nicely within our fitting curve. Our phenomenological approach allows for the calculation of σpp for any other energy value either at the colliders or cosmic ray energies. A deep knowledge, control and handle of hadron-hadron interactions at very high energies will have useful implications in many branches of physics.