Impact parameter interpretation of proton-proton scattering from a critical review of all ISR data

This paper contains a critical review of all the data produced at the ISR on proton-proton elastic scattering and total cross sections. This coherent and complete set of data is used to compute the impact parameter distribution of the proton-proton inelastic overlap integral. This impact parameter analysis has smaller errors than any other previously made, and confirms the good agreement with the geometrical scaling model while strongly disagreeing with models based on factorizing eikonals. For the first time we find indications of a second contribution to the peripheral rising of the proton-proton cross section in a region around 2.2 fm.