Luminosity-independent measurements of total, elastic and inelastic cross-sections at \chem{\sqrt {s} = 7\,TeV}

Abstract

The TOTEM experiment at the LHC has performed the first luminosity-independent determination of the total proton-proton cross-section at √ s = 7TeV. This technique is based on the optical theorem and requires simultaneous measurements of the inelastic rate accomplished with the forward charged-particle telescopes T1 and T2 in the range 3.1 < |η| < 6.5 and of the elastic rate by detecting the outcoming protons with Roman Pot detectors. The data presented here were collected in a dedicated run in 2011 with special beam optics (β* = 90m) and Roman Pots approaching the beam close enough to register elastic events with squared four-momentum transfers |t| as low as 5 · 10-3 GeV2. The luminosity-independent results for the elastic, inelastic and total cross-sections are σ el = (25.1 ±1.1)mb, σinel = (72.9 ±1.5)mb and σtot = (98.0 ±2.5)mb, respectively. At the same time this method yields the integrated luminosity, in agreement with measurements by CMS. TOTEM has also determined the total cross-section in two complementary ways, both using the CMS luminosity measurement as an input. The first method sums the elastic and inelastic cross-sections and thus does not depend on the ρ parameter. The second applies the optical theorem to the elastic-scattering measurements only and therefore is free of the T1 and T2 measurement uncertainties. The methods, having very different systematic dependences, give results in excellent agreement. Moreover, the ρ -independent measurement makes a first estimate for the ρ parameter at √ s = 7TeV possible: |ρ| = 0.145 ±0.091.