Measurement of diffraction dissociation cross sections in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV (1503.08689v2)

Abstract: Measurements of diffractive dissociation cross sections in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV are presented in kinematic regions defined by the masses M[X] and M[Y] of the two final-state hadronic systems separated by the largest rapidity gap in the event. Differential cross sections are measured as a function of xi[X]= M[X]^2/s in the region -5.5 < log[10]xi[X] < -2.5, for log[10]M[Y] < 0.5, dominated by single dissociation (SD), and 0.5 < log[10]M[Y] < 1.1, dominated by double dissociation (DD), where M[X] and M[Y] are given in GeV. The inclusive pp cross section is also measured as a function of the width of the central pseudorapidity gap Delta eta for Delta eta > 3, log[10]M[X] > 1.1, and log[10]M[Y] > 1.1, a region dominated by DD. The cross sections integrated over these regions are found to be, respectively, 2.99 +/- 0.02 (stat) +0.32 -0.29 (syst) mb, 1.18 +/- 0.02 (stat) +/- 0.13 (syst) mb, and 0.58 +/- 0.01 (stat) +0.13 -0.11 (syst) mb, and are used to extract total SD and DD cross sections. In addition, the inclusive differential cross section, d sigma /d Delta eta[F], for events with a pseudorapidity gap adjacent to the edge of the detector, is measured over Delta eta[F] = 8.4 units of pseudorapidity. The results are compared to those of other experiments and to theoretical predictions, and found compatible with slowly-rising diffractive cross sections as a function of center-of-mass energy.