Two diffraction cones of elastic scattering and structural symmetry conjecture

Abstract

The energy dependence of the differential cross-section of elastic proton-proton scattering in the ISR–LHC energy range is discussed for fixed values of momentum transfer in the region of the forward diffraction cone, in the region beyond the second maximum of dσ/dt and in the vicinity of the dip-bump structure. As can be seen from the currently available experimental data, the differential cross-section in the region beyond the second maximum has exactly the same properties as in the forward diffraction cone, including the existence of a stationary point, that is, we observe a second diffraction cone, which has the same origin as the forward peak. The simplest natural explanation for this experimental fact is that the amplitude of high energy elastic scattering is the sum of two similar terms that have the same status and differ only in the values of parameters. The energy dependence of dσ/dt for a fixed t in the region of the dip-bump structure, where these two terms interfere, confirms the above observations. We discuss the possible origin of the two-component structure of the high energy elastic scattering amplitude and explain this by the structural symmetry of the amplitude.