Highest Energy Proton-Nucleus Cross Sections

Abstract

The description of very high energy proton-proton cross sections in terms of a `black disc' with an `edge' allows of a simple generalization to highest energy proton-nucleus cross sections. This results in a leading $l{n}^{2}W$ term and a $lnW$ term whose coefficient depends linearly on the radius of the nucleus ($W$ the c.m. energy). The necessary parameters are determined from the fits to p-p data. Since the coefficient of the $lnW$ term is rather large, it is doubtful that the regime of $l{n}^{2}W$ dominance can be reached with available energies in accelerators or cosmic rays. However, the $lnW$ term can be relevant for highest energy cosmic rays in the atmosphere, where a large increase for the cross section on nitrogen is expected. Tests of the theory should be possible by studying the coefficient of $lnW$ at p-nucleus colliders.

five pages, one figure

References in corpus (4)

• Comprehensive fits to high energy data for $\sigma$, $\rho$, and $B$ and the asymptotic black-disk limit
• Evidence for a Constant `Edge' in Proton-Proton Scattering at Very High Energies
• Behavior Of Very High Energy Hadronic Cross Sections
• Measurement of the chemical composition of the ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with the Pierre Auger Observatory

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Progress towards characterizing ultrahigh energy cosmic ray sources