Dynamical Evidence that Regge Poles Control Small-Momentum-Transfer Scattering at High Energy

Assuming that Regge poles control high-energy scattering at small momentum transfers, a dynamical prediction is made for the magnitude of the total ππ cross section and an estimate given for the corresponding width of the forward diffraction peak, starting from a knowledge of the ρ and f⁰ masses and the lifetime of the ρ. The results are in satisfactory agreement with numbers inferred from high-energy πN and NN scattering through the factorization theorem for residues.