A dedicated sample of Large Hadron Collider proton-proton collision data at centre-of-mass energy s = 8 TeV is used to study inclusive single diffractive dissociation, pp → X p. The intact final-state proton is reconstructed in the ATLAS ALFA forward spectrometer, while charged particles from the dissociated system X are measured in the central detector components. The fiducial range of the measurement is −4.0 < log10ξ < −1.6 and 0.016 < |t| < 0.43 GeV2, where ξ is the proton fractional energy loss and t is the squared four-momentum transfer. The total cross section integrated across the fiducial range is 1.59 ± 0.13 mb. Cross sections are also measured differentially as functions of ξ, t, and ∆η, a variable that characterises the rapidity gap separating the proton and the system X. The data are consistent with an exponential t dependence, dσ/dt ∝ eBt with slope parameter B = 7.65 ± 0.34 GeV−2. Interpreted in the framework of triple Regge phenomenology, the ξ dependence leads to a pomeron intercept of α(0) = 1.07 ± 0.09. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Aad, G., Abbott, B., Abbott, D.C., Abdinov, O., Abed Abud, A., Abeling, K., et al. (2020). Measurement of differential cross sections for single diffractive dissociation in √s = 8 TeV pp collisions using the ATLAS ALFA spectrometer. JOURNAL OF HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS, 2020(2) [10.1007/JHEP02(2020)042].

Measurement of differential cross sections for single diffractive dissociation in √s = 8 TeV pp collisions using the ATLAS ALFA spectrometer

Ceradini F.;D'Amico V.;Di Micco B.;Di Nardo R.;Martinelli L.;