Narrow Results

Photoproduction of ϕ, γp → ϕ + p, is revisited in a model with Pomeron and hadron degrees of freedom. The scattering equation is written such that the final state interaction is included at the one-loop level of hadrons. We find a parameter set to reproduce the bump-like structure near the threshold in a way consistent with other meson production data.

At high energies the Pomeron plays a crucial part in describing the soft interactions. In the light of LHC (Large Hadron Collider) data we perform a detailed analysis of proton-proton ($pp$) and antiproton-proton ($\bar{p}p$) forward scattering data in order to determine the intercept and the slope of the soft Pomeron trajectory. This analysis is performed based on Regge theory using Born-level amplitudes. We investigate the role of the proton-Pomeron vertex form and of the nearest $t$-channel singularity. We give predictions for the total cross section and the ratio of the real part to the imaginary part of the elastic amplitude in $pp$ collisions at LHC and cosmic-ray energies.