We re-examine the extraction of rho(s,t), the ratio of the real part to the imaginary part of the scattering amplitude, and of the spin-flip amplitude, from the existing experimental data in the Coulomb-hadron interference region. We show that it is
not possible to find reasonable assumptions about the structure of the scattering amplitude of proton-proton and proton-antiproton elastic scattering at high energy that would lead, in proton-antiproton scattering for 3.8 < p_L <6 GeV/c, to an agreement between data and an analysis based on dispersion relations.
The following effects in the nearly forward (soft) region of the LHC are proposed to be investigated: 1) At small |t| the fine structure of the cone (Pomeron) shouldbe scrutinized: a) a break of the cone near $tapprox - 0.1 ~ GeV$^2, due to the two-p
ion threshold, and required by t-channel unitarity, is expected, and b) possible small-period oscillations between $t=0$ and the dip region. 2) In measuring the elastic $pp$ scattering and total $pp$ cross section at the LHC, the experimentalists are urged to treat the total cross section $sigma_t,$ the ratio $rho$, the forward slope $B$ and the luminosity ${cal L}$ as free arameters, and to publish model-independent results on ${dN/{dt}}.$ 3) Of extreme interest are the details of the expected diffraction minimum in the differential cross section. Its position, expected in the interval $0.4<-t<1$ GeV$^2$ at the level of about $10^{-2} {rm mb} cdot$ GeV$^{-2}div 10^{-1} {rm mb}cdot$ GeV$^{-2}$, cannot be predicted unambiguously, and its depth, i.e. the ratio of $dsigma/dt$ at the minimum to that at the subsequent maximum (about $-t=5 $GeV$^2$, which is about 5 is of great importance. 4) The expected slow-down with increasing $|t|$ of the shrinkage of the second cone (beyond the dip-bump), together with the transition from an exponential to a power decrease in $-t$, will be indicative of the transition from soft to hard physics. Explicit models are proposed to help in quantifying this transition. 5) In a number of papers a limiting behavior, or saturation of the black disc limit (BDL) was predicted. This controversial phenomenon shows that the BDL may not be the ultimate limit.
We consider two well-known classes of unitarization of Born amplitudes of hadron elastic scattering. The standard class, which saturates at the black disk limit includes the standard eikonal representation, while the other class, which goes beyond th
e black-disk limit to reach the full unitarity circle, includes the U matrix. It is shown that the basic properties of these schemes are independent of the functional form used for the unitarisation, and that U matrix and eikonal schemes can be extended to have similar properties. A common form of unitarisation is proposed interpolating between both classes. The correspondence with different nonlinear equations are also briefly examined.
The problems linked with the extraction of the basic parameters of the hadron elastic scattering amplitude at the LHC are explored. It is shown that one should take into account the saturation regime which will lead to new effects at the LHC.
The problems linked to the extraction of the basic parameters of the hadron elastic scattering amplitude at the LHC are explored. The impact of the Black Disk Limit (BDL)$-$ which constitutes a new regime of the scattering processes - on the determination of these values is examined.
