Feasibility studies of the measurement of the exclusive diffractive bremsstrahlung cross-section in proton-proton scattering at the centre of mass energy of 13 TeV at the LHC are reported. Present studies were performed for the low luminosity LHC running with the betatron function value of 90~m using the ATLAS associated forward detectors ALFA and ZDC. A simplified approach to the event simulation and reconstruction is used. The background influence is also discussed.
Feasibility studies of an observation of the exclusive diffractive bremsstrahlung in proton-proton scattering at the LHC are reported. A simplified approach to the photon and the scattered proton energy reconstruction is used. The background influence is discussed.
Absolute luminosity measurements are of general interest for colliding-beam experiments at storage rings. These measurements are necessary to determine the absolute cross-sections of reaction processes and are valuable to quantify the performance of the accelerator. Using data taken in 2010, LHCb has applied two methods to determine the absolute scale of its luminosity measurements for proton-proton collisions at the LHC with a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. In addition to the classic van der Meer scan method a novel technique has been developed which makes use of direct imaging of the individual beams using beam-gas and beam-beam interactions. This beam imaging method is made possible by the high resolution of the LHCb vertex detector and the close proximity of the detector to the beams, and allows beam parameters such as positions, angles and widths to be determined. The results of the two methods have comparable precision and are in good agreement. Combining the two methods, an overall precision of 3.5% in the absolute luminosity determination is reached. The techniques used to transport the absolute luminosity calibration to the full 2010 data-taking period are presented.
We report on the expected sensitivity of dedicated scintillator-based detectors at the LHC for elementary particles with charges much smaller than the electron charge. The dataset provided by a prototype scintillator-based detector is used to characterise the performance of the detector and provide an accurate background projection. Detector designs, including a novel slab detector configuration, are considered for the data taking period of the LHC to start in 2022 (Run 3) and for the high luminosity LHC. With the Run 3 dataset, the existence of new particles with masses between 10 MeV and 45 GeV could be excluded at 95% confidence level for charges between 0.003e and 0.3e, depending on their mass. With the high luminosity LHC dataset, the expected limits would reach between 10 MeV and 80 GeV for charges between 0.0018e and 0.3e, depending on their mass
The two Zero Degree Calorimeters (ZDCs) of the CMS experiment are located at $pm 140~$m from the collision point and detect neutral particles in the $|eta| > 8.3$ pseudorapidity region. This paper presents a study on the performance of the ZDC in the 2016 pPb run. The response of the detectors to ultrarelativistic neutrons is studied using in-depth Monte Carlo simulations. A method of signal extraction based on template fits is presented, along with a dedicated calibration procedure. A deconvolution technique for the correction of overlapping collision events is discussed.
The DsTau project proposes to study tau-neutrino production in high-energy proton interactions. The outcome of this experiment are prerequisite for measuring the $ u_tau$ charged-current cross section that has never been well measured. Precisely measuring the cross section would enable testing of lepton universality in $ u_tau$ scattering and it also has practical implications for neutrino oscillation experiments and high-energy astrophysical $ u_tau$ observations. $D_s$ mesons, the source of tau neutrinos, following high-energy proton interactions will be studied by a novel approach to detect the double-kink topology of the decays $D_s rightarrow tau u_tau$ and $taurightarrow u_tau X$. Directly measuring $D_srightarrow tau$ decays will provide an inclusive measurement of the $D_s$ production rate and decay branching ratio to $tau$. The momentum reconstruction of $D_s$ will be performed by combining topological variables. This project aims to detect 1,000 $D_s rightarrow tau$ decays in $2.3 times 10^8$ proton interactions in tungsten target to study the differential production cross section of $D_s$ mesons. To achieve this, state-of-the-art emulsion detectors with a nanometric-precision readout will be used. The data generated by this project will enable the $ u_tau$ cross section from DONUT to be re-evaluated, and this should significantly reduce the total systematic uncertainty. Furthermore, these results will provide essential data for future $ u_tau$ experiments such as the $ u_tau$ program in the SHiP project at CERN. In addition, the analysis of $2.3 times 10^8$ proton interactions, combined with the expected high yield of $10^5$ charmed decays as by-products, will enable the extraction of additional physical quantities.