HADRON-NUCLEON TOTAL CROSS SECTIONS AT HIGH ENERGIES

During the last decade, considerable progress has been made both experimentally, in determining to high precision the hadron-nucleon total cross sections, and theoretically, in accounting for the magnitude and behaviour of these cross sections as a function of energy. The work is chiefly concerned with those hadrons (pions, kaons, nucleons) normally obtained in particle beams at proton synchrotrons, and the basis of the experimental method, involving electronic counter techniques, is discussed in some detail. The experimental data have revealed a wealth of information on the energy dependence of the hadron-nucleon interactions. While the review has been written from an experimentalist's point of view, a discussion of some of the pertinent theoretical aspects is included.