Model-independent Odderon results based on TOTEM data on elastic proton-proton scattering at 8 TeV

TL;DR

This study provides a model-independent analysis of elastic proton-proton scattering data, confirming the Odderon signal with high statistical significance and distinguishing it from background effects using a new gating method.

Contribution

It introduces a novel gating method for separating signal and background in elastic scattering data, enabling a model-independent detection of the Odderon exchange.

Findings

Odderon exchange significance at least 7.32σ

Scaling functions agree with background at most 1.93σ

New TOTEM data at 8 TeV supports Odderon detection

Abstract

We complete the model-independent analysis of the scaling properties of the differential cross section of elastic proton-proton cross sections, including new TOTEM data published in 2022 at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV. We separate the signal and the background region with a new gating method. In the signal region, we find that the statistical significance of Odderon exchange from the combined 7.0 and 8.0 TeV $pp$ data of TOTEM and the 1.96 TeV $p\bar{p}$ data of D0 is at least 7.32$\sigma$. In the background region, the scaling functions of elastic proton-proton data at 7 and 8 TeV and that of elastic proton-antiproton scattering data at 1.96 TeV agree with a statistical significance not larger than 1.93$\sigma$.