Dortmund 2006 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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T: Teilchenphysik

T 122: Eingeladene Vortr
äge Experiment I

T 122.4: Fachvortrag

Mittwoch, 29. März 2006, 15:30–16:00, HG2-HS1

The Pomeron as little helper in tracking down the Higgs ? - Forward physics at the LHC — •Monika Grothe — University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA — Universita di Torino e INFN Torino, Italien

In recent years, theoretical advances have identified forward proton tagging at the LHC as a promising tool in the search for new particles at the LHC. A Higgs boson with mass close to the current exclusion limit is an interesting point in case: central exclusive production via double-Pomeron exchange provides a clean experimental signature for its discovery. For the SM Higgs, an unsurpassed S/B ratio of ∼1 is expected. In certain MSSM scenarios the S/B ratio can be as large as several orders of magnitude. In addition, central exclusive production makes possible an unambiguous determination of the Higgs quantum numbers and offers access to the CP structure of the Higgs sector.

Excellent forward proton tagging capabilities are required over a wide range of ξ values (fractional momentum loss of the proton) and at nominal LHC beam optics and luminosity. A limited degree of coverage in ξ can be achieved in the CMS case by a combination of CMS with TOTEM; in the ATLAS case by means of an upgrade of the luminosity monitoring system, currently under design, with radiation-hard detector technology.

Additional detector stations at a distance of 420 m from the interaction point would maximize the acceptance in ξ, and thus the reach in mass of the centrally produced system. This option, which requires redesign of an LHC cryostat, is met with interest in both ATLAS and CMS. The FP420 R&D project has been established at CERN to pursue this possibility.

This talk describes the emerging forward physics program at the LHC.