Unexpected properties of interactions of high energy protons

Abstract

Experimental data on proton-proton interactions in high energy collisions show quite a special and unexpected behaviour of the proportion of elastic scattering compared to inelastic processes with increasing energy. It decreases at the beginning (at comparatively low energies) but then starts increasing. From Intersecting Storage Rings (ISR) energies of 23.5 - 62.5 GeV up to higher energies 7 - 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) it increases by a factor more than 1.5! According to intuitive classical ideas we would expect a stable tendency with increasing proportion of the break-down of protons compared to their survival probability. One can assume that either the asymptotic freedom or the extremely short time of flight of high energy protons through each other are in charge of such a surprising effect. The unquestionable principle of unitarity combined with the available experimental data on elastic scattering is used to get new conclusions about the shape of the interaction region of colliding protons. Its evolution at present energies is considered. Some predictions about its behaviour at even higher energies are described with different assumptions on relative roles of elastic scattering and inelastic processes. The shape can transform rather drastically if the proportion of elastic processes keeps rising. This unexpected property leads to an unexpected corollary. The possible origin of the effect and its interrelation to the strong interaction dynamics are speculated.