Certain Implications for High-Energy Total Cross Sections from the Multiperipheral Model

Abstract

The multiperipheral model is used to relate the experimental fact, ${{\sigma }_{N\overline{N}}}^{\mathrm{tot}}>{{\sigma }_{\mathrm{NN}}}^{\mathrm{tot}}$, to the possibility that the $N\overline{N}$ channel can annihilate into purely meson final states by exchange of $N$ or $\overline{N}$ trajectories, whereas the $\mathrm{NN}$ channel cannot do so. Our argument shows that from the multi-Regge bootstrap point of view, the combination of baryon and antibaryon trajectories will generate a pair of exchange-degenerate trajectories $P^{\prime }$ and $\omega$. The same line of reasoning can easily be generalized to include strange particles, as well as the ($K^{-}N, K^{+}N$) and (${\pi }^{-}p, {\pi }^{+}p$) systems.