Forward Physics with Rapidity Gaps at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to enhance the LHC's capability to study diffractive processes by installing forward shower counters, enabling detailed measurements of single and central diffractive events, including gluon-gluon interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a simple forward shower counter setup at the LHC that allows new measurements of diffractive cross sections and gluon interactions with high efficiency.

Findings

Enables measurement of single diffractive cross sections at low masses.

Facilitates study of Central Diffractive Excitation and g+g to g+g reactions.

Uses the LHC as a gluon-gluon collider.

Abstract

A rapidity gap program with great potential can be realized at the Large Hadron Collider, LHC, by adding a few simple forward shower counters (FSCs) along the beam line on both sides of the main central detectors, such as CMS. Measurements of single diffractive cross sections down to the lowest masses can be made with an efficient level-1 trigger. Exceptionally, the detectors also make feasible the study of Central Diffractive Excitation, and in particular the reaction g + g to g + g, in the color singlet channel, effectively using the LHC as a gluon-gluon collider.