Eur. Phys. J. C (2009) 60: 249-264
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-009-0889-2

Regular Article - Theoretical Physics

Soft processes at the LHC I: Multi-component model

¹ Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, University of Durham, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
² Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, Gatchina, St. Petersburg, 188300, Russia

^* e-mail: v.a.khoze@durham.ac.uk

Received: 16 December 2008
Published online: 14 February 2009

Abstract

We emphasise the sizeable effects of absorption on high-energy ‘soft’ processes, and, hence, the necessity to include multi-pomeron–pomeron interactions in the usual multi-channel eikonal description. We present a model which includes a complete set of the multi-pomeron vertices and which accounts for the diffusion in both the impact parameter and ln (k _t ) of the parton during its evolution in rapidity. We tune the model to the available data for soft processes in the CERN-ISR to the Tevatron energy range. We make predictions for ‘soft’ observables at the LHC.