First measurement of the total proton-proton cross section at the LHC energy of {\surd} s =7 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports the first measurement of the total proton-proton cross section at 7 TeV at the LHC, using elastic scattering data and the optical theorem, providing key insights into high-energy particle interactions.

Contribution

It presents the first measurement of the total proton-proton cross section at 7 TeV using elastic scattering data and the optical theorem at the LHC, with detailed analysis and extrapolation.

Findings

Total proton-proton cross section at 7 TeV: 98.3 mb

Elastic scattering cross section: 24.8 mb

Inelastic cross section: 73.5 mb

Abstract

TOTEM has measured the differential cross-section for elastic proton-proton scattering at the LHC energy of {\srud}s = 7TeV analysing data from a short run with dedicated large {\beta} * optics. A single exponential fit with a slope B = (20:1{\pm}0:2stat {\pm}0:3syst)GeV-2 describes the range of the four-momentum transfer squared |t| from 0.02 to 0.33 GeV2. After the extrapolation to |t| = 0, a total elastic scattering cross-section of (24:8{\pm}0:2stat {\pm}1:2syst) mb was obtained. Applying the optical theorem and using the luminosity measurement from CMS, a total proton-proton cross-section of (98:3{\pm}0:2stat {\pm}2:8syst) mb was deduced which is in good agreement with the expectation from the overall fit of previously measured data over a large range of center-of-mass energies. From the total and elastic pp cross-section measurements, an inelastic pp cross-section of (73:5{\pm}0:6stat +1:8 -1:3 syst) mb was inferred. PACS 13.60.Hb: Total and inclusive cross sections