Multiple interactions, diffraction, and the BFKL pomeron
In high energy pp scattering the inclusive cross section for minijet production is very large. Unitarity then implies a high probability for multiple interactions, and a large diffractive cross section. As the proton has a substructure in terms of parton cascades, the diffraction is not only elastic, but has a large component of diffractive excitation. The cascades can fill the whole rapidity ran