The BFKL pomeron: Can it be detected?

Abstract An estimate is derived for the absolute magnitude of BFKL pomeron exchange at t = 0. The analysis takes account of energy conservation and of the need realistically to model non-perturbative contributions to the BFKL integral from infrared regions. Experiment finds that there is little or no room for a significant BFKL term in soft processes, and this constrains its magnitude in hard and semihard processes, so that it is unlikely to be detectable.