We present an estimate of survival probability from an eikonal mini- jet model implemented with a proposal for soft gluon resummation to all orders. We compare it with experimental data for diffractive di-jet production from LHC experiments, CMS and ATLAS, both at LO and NLO order.
The first double diffractive cross-section measurement in the very forward region has been carried out by the TOTEM experiment at the LHC with center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s)=7 TeV. By utilizing the very forward TOTEM tracking detectors T1 and T2, which extend up to |eta|=6.5, a clean sample of double diffractive pp events was extracted. From these events, we measured the cross-section sigma_DD =(116 +- 25) mub for events where both diffractive systems have 4.7 <|eta|_min < 6.5 .
In this letter we estimate the contribution of the double diffractive processes for the diphoton production in $pp$ collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The acceptance of the central and forward LHC detectors is taken into account and predictions for the invariant mass, rapidity and, transverse momentum distributions are presented. A comparison with the predictions for the Light -- by -- Light (LbL) scattering and exclusive diphoton production is performed. We demonstrate that the events associated to double diffractive processes can be separated and its study can be used to constrain the behavior of the diffractive parton distribution functions.
An empirical model for the $pp$ elastic differential cross section is proposed. Inspired by early work by Barger and Phillips, we parametrize the scattering amplitude in building blocks, comprising of two exponentials with a relative phase, supplementing the dominant term at small $-t$ with the proton form factor. This model suitably applies to LHC7 and ISR data, enabling to make simple predictions for higher LHC energies and to check whether asymptotia might be achieved.
I review the predictions of the total cross section for many models, and point out that some of them lead to the conclusion that the standard experimental analysis may lead to systematic errors much larger than expected.
We propose a new approach to the problem of rapidity gap survival (RGS) in the production of high-mass systems (H = dijet, heavy quarkonium, Higgs boson) in double-gap exclusive diffractive pp scattering, pp -> p + (gap) + H + (gap) + p. It is based on the idea that hard and soft interactions proceed over widely different time- and distance scales and are thus approximately independent. The high-mass system is produced in a hard scattering process with exchange of two gluons between the protons. Its amplitude is calculable in terms of the gluon generalized parton distributions (GPDs) in the protons, which can be measured in J/psi production in exclusive ep scattering. The hard scattering process is modified by soft spectator interactions, which we calculate in a model-independent way in terms of the pp elastic scattering amplitude. Contributions from inelastic intermediate states are suppressed. A simple geometric picture of the interplay of hard and soft interactions in diffraction is obtained. The onset of the black-disk limit in pp scattering at TeV energies strongly suppresses diffraction at small impact parameters and is the main factor in determining the RGS probability. Correlations between hard and soft interactions (e.g. due to scattering from the long-range pion field of the proton, or due to possible short-range transverse correlations between partons) further decrease the RGS probability. We also investigate the dependence of the diffractive cross section on the transverse momenta of the final-state protons (diffraction pattern). By measuring this dependence one can perform detailed tests of the interplay of hard and soft interactions, and even extract information about the gluon GPD in the proton. Such studies appear to be feasible with the planned forward detectors at the LHC.