We apply parton-model concepts to the "soft" (small-momentum-transfer) processes which make up the majority of the hadronic total cross section. Diffraction is calculated as the shadow of these soft processes. We obtain an attractive picture of the essential features of total, elastic, and diffractive-inelastic scattering. In particular, the rather large cross section for inelastic diffraction, which is observed experimentally, results from fluctuations in the distribution of the wee partons which initiate interactions. These fluctuations lead to diffractive production by the mechanism of Good and Walker. The observed peripheral character of diffraction as a function of impact parameter, the absence of a forward dip in d u / d t d m 2, the correct integrated cross section, and the correct s~nalit slope of diffraction all follow naturally in our approach.
The parton-recombination model plus SU(6) symmetry is used to relate polarizations in inclusive baryon production to those of the underlying constituent subprocesses. A description of the origin of the polarization asymmetry in terms of Thomas precession of the quarks' spins in the recombination process accounts for all of the qualitative features of the baryon and antibaryon polarization data.
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