The processes of diffraction dissociation at small momentum transfer as a way of studying the asymptotics of total cross sections

Abstract

It is shown that the energy dependence of forward diffraction dissociation enables one to distinguish experimentally between the theory with asymptotically constant total cross sections and other possibilities. In the framework of this theory, characteristic features of diffraction processes are considered and estimates are given for changes of total and forward diffraction cross sections in the available energy range under different assumptions on many-pomeron cut contributions.