Non-perturbative models of diffractive hadronic collisions

Abstract: In this thesis, a new model for diffractive proton-proton collisions is presented. Interpreting protons as systems of many partons, we treat diffraction in terms of elastic interactions between the partons of the colliding protons. Parton emission and absorption are employed as the mechanism that in the context of a diffractive event can stabilize excited protons by reshuffling parton momenta and dissipating the excess internal motion of the partons. The new model has been implemented in Herwig 7 and it reproduces observables commonly associated with diffractive physics. Additionally, it improves the description of several minimum-bias observables, especially the final state charged particle multiplicity distribution compared to the pre-existing Herwig 7 model for diffraction.