$\gamma\gamma$ and $\gamma p$ measurements with forward proton taggers in CMS+TOTEM

TL;DR

This paper reports the first evidence of high-mass $ m f extit{pp} ightarrow p m f extit{ extmu^+ extmu^-} p^{(*)}$ events at 13 TeV using the CMS+TOTEM forward proton spectrometer, showcasing detector performance and analysis techniques.

Contribution

First implementation of CMS+TOTEM forward proton spectrometer data analysis for high-mass dimuon production at the LHC.

Findings

Observed 12 candidate events with >4σ significance

Demonstrated detector alignment and background estimation procedures

First evidence of this process at high masses in LHC data

Abstract

The CMS+TOTEM Precision Proton Spectrometer operated for the first time in 2016, collecting data during $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Procedures for the detector alignment, optics corrections, and background estimations were developed, and applied to an analysis of the process $pp \rightarrow p \mu^{+}\mu^{-} p^{(*)}$ with dimuon masses larger than 110 GeV. A total of 12 candidate events are observed, corresponding to an excess of $>4\sigma$ over the background prediction. This constitutes the first evidence for this process at such masses, and demonstrates the good performance of CT-PPS.