Abstract
The TOTEM experiment has made a precise measurement of the elastic proton–proton differential cross-section at the centre-of-mass energy s=8 TeV based on a high-statistics data sample obtained with the β⁎=90 m optics. Both the statistical and systematic uncertainties remain below 1%, except for the t-independent contribution from the overall normalisation. This unprecedented precision allows to exclude a purely exponential differential cross-section in the range of four-momentum transfer squared 0.027<|t|<0.2 GeV2 with a significance greater than 7 σ. Two extended parametrisations, with quadratic and cubic polynomials in the exponent, are shown to be well compatible with the data. Using them for the differential cross-section extrapolation to t=0, and further applying the optical theorem, yields total cross-section estimates of (101.5±2.1) mb and (101.9±2.1) mb, respectively, in agreement with previous TOTEM measurements.
Highlights
The differential cross-section dσ/dt of hadronic proton–(anti)proton scattering at low |t| has traditionally been parametrised with a simple exponential function, e−B|t|, giving a satisfactory description of all past experimental data
The TOTEM experiment is located at the LHC interaction point (IP) 5 together with the CMS experiment
Roman Pots are movable beam-pipe insertions that approach the LHC beam very closely in order to detect particles scattered at very small angles
Summary
The differential cross-section dσ/dt of hadronic proton–(anti)proton scattering at low |t| has traditionally been parametrised with a simple exponential function, e−B|t|, giving a satisfactory. √bestte=r parametrised with quadratic 546 GeV, a change of slope exponential at |t| ≈ 0.14 functions, GeV2 has e−B|t|−Ct2 [3,4]. Thanks to its high statistics, an unprecedented precision has been reached in the region 0.027 |t| 0.2 GeV2 Both the statistical and systematic components of the differential cross-section uncertainty are controlled at a level below 1%, except for the overall normalisation (Section 5.2.6). Neglecting the influence of Coulomb scattering in the observed range, the often used purely exponential extrapolation has been found inadequate, and extended parametrisations are provided, still yielding total cross-section values compatible with the previous TOTEM results [12] at the same energy.
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