Is the Pomeron a Goldstone boson

A Reggeon field theory is proposed using as an input two exchange-degenerate mesonlike trajectories, each of them corresponding to a pair of conjugate poles. A Pomeron and a lower-lying Reggeon are generated by spontaneous symmetry breaking. Both the input and output trajectories have a $\sqrt{t}$ dependence and are complex for $t<0$, reflecting the conventional treatment of Regge-pole-cut collisions. The gauge symmetry of the model is briefly discussed, and the model is compared with earlier work.