Prospects for Proton-Proton Measurements with Tagged Protons in ATLAS

TL;DR

The paper discusses the capabilities of the ATLAS Forward Proton detectors installed in 2017, which enable measurements of rare proton interactions at the LHC, opening new avenues for studying photon-photon processes and potential new physics.

Contribution

It introduces the AFP detector system and outlines its physics goals, highlighting its potential for advancing studies of diffractive and electromagnetic processes at the LHC.

Findings

AFP detectors successfully operated during high-luminosity runs

Enabled measurements of forward protons in diffractive events

Facilitated studies of photon-photon interactions and new physics searches

Abstract

In 2017, ATLAS has been equipped with a new, dedicated detector system allowing measurements of forward protons scattered at small angles in diffractive and electromagnetic processes. These ATLAS Forward Proton detectors (AFP) can operate during the standard high-luminosity LHC runs and collect large amounts of integrated luminosity. This gives a possibility to study rare interactions, in particular, the two-photon processes. The physics programme includes measurements of photon-photon interactions present in the Standard Model, as well as using searches for new physics. In this paper, the AFP detectors and physics goals are briefly presented.