Non-perturbative QCD effects in forward scattering at LHC
We study infrared contributions to semihard parton-parton interactions by considering an effective charge whose finite infrared behavior is constrained by a dynamical mass scale. Using an eikonal QCD-based model in order to connect this semihard parton-level dynamics to the hadron-hadron scattering, we obtain predictions for the proton-proton ($pp$) and antiproton-proton ($\bar{p}p$) total cross sections, $σ_{tot}^{pp,\bar{p}p}$, and the ratios of the real to imaginary part of the forward scattering amplitude, $ρ^{pp,\bar{p}p}$. We discuss the theoretical aspects of this formalism and consider the phenomenological implications of a class of energy-dependent form factors in the high-energy behavior of the forward amplitude. We introduce integral dispersion relations specially tailored to relate the real and imaginary parts of eikonals with energy-dependent form factors. Our results, obtained using a group of updated sets of parton distribution functions (PDFs), are consistent with the recent data from the TOTEM, AUGER and Telescope Array experiments.