How to discover QCD Instantons at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper explores strategies to detect QCD Instantons at the LHC, aiming to confirm their predicted effects and improve understanding of non-perturbative QCD phenomena.

Contribution

It proposes analysis methods for identifying QCD Instanton signals at the LHC and establishes initial experimental limits using existing data.

Findings

Proposed analysis strategies for QCD Instanton detection

Derived first experimental limits on QCD Instanton processes

Identified promising signatures for future searches

Abstract

The Standard Model of particle physics predicts the existence of quantum tunnelling processes across topological inequivalent vacua, known as Instantons. In the electroweak sector, instantons provide a source of baryon asymmetry within the Standard Model. In Quantum Chromodynamics they are linked to chiral symmetry breaking and confinement. The direct experimental observation of Instanton-induced processes would therefore be a breakthrough in modern particle physics. Recently, new calculations for QCD Instanton processes in proton-proton collisions became public, suggesting sizable cross sections as well as promising experimental signatures at the LHC. In this work, we study possible analysis strategies to discover QCD Instanton induced processes at the LHC and derive a first limit based on existing Minimum Bias data.