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Fluctuations, Saturation, and Diffractive Excitation at low x

Diffractive excitation is usually described by the Good--Walker formalism for low masses, and by the triple-Regge formalism for high masses. In the Good-Walker formalism the cross section is determined by the fluctuations in the interaction. By taking the fluctuations in the BFKL ladder into account, it is possible to describe both low and high mass excitation in the Good-Walker formalism. In high energy pp collisions the fluctuations are strongly suppressed by saturation, which implies that pomeron exchange does not factorise between DIS and pp collisions. The Dipole Cascade Model reproduces the expected triple-Regge form for the bare pomeron, and the triple-pomeron coupling is estimated.