Total Cross Sections

Abstract

A unified approach to total cross-sections, based on the QCD contribution to the rise with energy, is presented for the processes $pp$, $p{\bar p}$, $\gamma p, \gamma \gamma, e^+e^- \to hadrons$. For proton processes, a discussion of the role played by soft gluon summation in taming the fast rise due to mini-jets is presented. For photon-photon processes, a comparison with other models indicates the need for precision measurements in both the low and high energy region, likely only with measurements at future Linear Colliders.