Double diffractive cross-section measurement in the forward region at the LHC

Area of Science:

• High Energy Physics
• Particle Physics
• Collider Physics

Background:

• Proton-proton interactions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are fundamental to understanding strong force dynamics.
• Diffractive scattering, where protons exchange quantum‌ها of the strong force, plays a significant role in these interactions.
• Measurements in the very forward region (|η| > 4) probe unexplored aspects of diffractive processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To perform the first measurement of the double diffractive cross-section in the very forward region at the LHC.
• To extract a clean sample of double diffractive events using advanced tracking detectors.
• To determine the cross-section for specific kinematic conditions (4.7 < |η|min < 6.5).

Main Methods:

• Utilized the TOTEM experiment's very forward tracking detectors (T1 and T2) at the LHC.
• Selected events with double diffractive characteristics based on detector information.
• Analyzed a clean sample of proton-proton collision events at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV.

Main Results:

• Successfully extracted a clean sample of double diffractive proton-proton events.
• Determined the double diffractive cross-section (σDD) to be (116 ± 25) μb.
• This measurement specifically targets events where both diffractive systems are observed in the very forward pseudorapidity region (4.7 < |η|min < 6.5).

Conclusions:

• This study presents the first measurement of the double diffractive cross-section in the very forward region at the LHC.
• The results provide valuable data for theoretical models describing diffractive processes in high-energy proton-proton collisions.
• The successful use of TOTEM detectors demonstrates their capability for precise measurements in extreme forward regions.