A field-theoretic study of the Regge-eikonal model. II

A previous study of the Regge-eikonal model in φ³ is extended to QED. First we define a reggeon amplitude that is built up by tower diagrams, and then study multiregge exchange by use of Gribov's reggeon calculus. The situation is essentially the same as in φ³: The eikonal approximation is the true high-energy and weak coupling limit (s → ∞, α ln s = fixed), but it breaks down outside of the weak-coupling limit. This confirms that the eikonal approximation as a model for Regge-cuts is not justifiable by field-theoretic arguments because of the neglect of inelastic intermediate states.