Small-xnuclear shadowing from diffractive scattering

Abstract

We calculate nuclear shadowing ratios at small Bjorken-$x$ for nuclei in the mass range $3lAl239$ in the framework of a generalized form of the Gribov theory. The diffractive dissociation cross sections needed as inputs are taken from the FNAL (Fermi National Laboratory) and HERA (Hadron-Electron Ring Accelerator) experiments. Our calculations cover a wide range of energies between 12.8 and 231 GeV. The effects of the inclusion of subleading Reggeons on nuclear shadowing are investigated. At lower energies our results are compared to available data from the New Muon Collaboration (NMC) and E665 Collaboration (E665) experiments at $x\ensuremath{\simeq}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$. At higher energies subleading Reggeons are found to contribute significantly to nuclear shadowing.