Optimal observables and phase-space ambiguities

Optimal observables are known to lead to minimal statistical errors on parameters for a given normalised event distribution of a physics reaction. Thereby all statistical correlations are taken into account. Therefore, on the one hand they are a useful tool to extract values on a set of parameters from measured data. On the other hand one can calculate the minimal constraints on these parameters achievable by any data-analysis method for the specific reaction. In case the final states can be reconstructed without ambiguities optimal observables have a particularly simple form. We give explicit formulae for the optimal observables for generic reactions in case of ambiguities in the reconstruction of the final state and for general parameterisation of the final-state phase space.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure, minor changes in tex

Pomeron Physics and QCD

We review some theoretical ideas concerning diffractive processes. We discuss the Regge Ansatz for the pomeron and the two pomeron model. Then we present the results obtained from nonperturbative QCD for high energy scattering. There we can extract from elastic scattering data the parameters describing the QCD vacuum, in particular the string tension.Comment: 15 pages, Contribution to the Ringberg Workshop on HERA Physics 200

Central exclusive production of K+K−K^{+}K^{-} pairs in proton-proton collisions

We discuss central exclusive diffractive production of light mesons in the reactions $pp \to pp\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ and $pp \to ppK^{+}K^{-}$. The calculation is based on a tensor-pomeron approach. We include a purely diffractive dipion continuum, and the scalar $f_{0}(980)$, $f_{0}(1500)$, $f_{0}(1710)$ and tensor $f_{2}(1270)$, $f'_{2}(1525)$ resonances decaying into pseudoscalar meson pairs. We include also photoproduction mechanisms for the nonresonant (Drell-S\"oding) and the $\phi(1020)$ resonance contributions. The theoretical results are compared with existing CDF experimental data and predictions for being carried out LHC experiments are presented. The distributions in dimeson invariant mass and in a special "glueball filter variable" including the interference effects of resonance and dimeson continuum are presented.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, presented by P. Lebiedowicz at MESON 2018, 7-12 June 2018, Krak\'ow, Polan

Triple gauge couplings in polarised e-e+ -> W-W+ and their measurement using optimal observables

The sensitivity of optimal integrated observables to electroweak triple gauge couplings is investigated for the process e-e+ -> W-W+ -> 4 fermions at future linear colliders. By a suitable reparameterisation of the couplings we achieve that all 28 coupling parameters have uncorrelated statistical errors and are naturally normalised for this process. Discrete symmetry properties simplify the analysis and allow checks on the stability of numerical results. We investigate the sensitivity to the couplings of the normalised event distribution and the additional constraints that can be obtained from the total rate. Particular emphasis is put on the gain in sensitivity one can achieve with longitudinal beam polarisation. We also point out questions that may best be settled with transversely polarised beams. In particular we find that with purely longitudinal polarisation one linear combination of coupling parameters is hardly measurable by means of the normalised event distribution.Comment: 56 pages, 20 figure

A Model for Soft High-Energy Scattering: Tensor Pomeron and Vector Odderon

A model for soft high-energy scattering is developed. The model is formulated in terms of effective propagators and vertices for the exchange objects: the pomeron, the odderon, and the reggeons. The vertices are required to respect standard rules of QFT. The propagators are constructed taking into account the crossing properties of amplitudes in QFT and the power-law ansaetze from the Regge model. We propose to describe the pomeron as an effective spin 2 exchange. This tensor pomeron gives, at high energies, the same results for the p-p and p-pbar elastic amplitudes as the standard Donnachie-Landshoff pomeron. But with our tensor pomeron it is much more natural to write down effective vertices of all kinds which respect the rules of QFT. This is particularly clear for the coupling of the pomeron to particles carrying spin, for instance vector mesons. We describe the odderon as an effective vector exchange. We emphasise that with a tensor pomeron and a vector odderon the corresponding charge-conjugation relations are automatically fulfilled. We compare the model to some experimental data, in particular to data for the total cross sections, in order to determine the model parameters. The model should provide a starting point for a general framework for describing soft high-energy reactions. It should give to experimentalists an easily manageable tool for calculating amplitudes for such reactions and for obtaining predictions which can be compared in detail with data.Comment: 58 page

Searching for the odderon in pp→ppK+K−pp \to pp K^{+}K^{-} and pp→ppμ+μ−pp \to pp \mu^{+}\mu^{-} reactions in the ϕ(1020)\phi(1020) resonance region at the LHC

We explore the possibility of observing odderon exchange in the $pp \to pp K^{+}K^{-}$ and $pp \to pp \mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ reactions at the LHC. We consider the central exclusive production (CEP) of the $\phi(1020)$ resonance decaying into $K^{+} K^{-}$ and $\mu^{+}\mu^{-}$. We compare the purely diffractive contribution (odderon-pomeron fusion) to the photoproduction contribution (photon-pomeron fusion). The theoretical results are calculated within the tensor-pomeron and vector-odderon model for soft reactions. We include absorptive corrections at the amplitude level. In order to fix the coupling constants for the photon-pomeron fusion contribution we discuss the reactions $\gamma p \to \omega p$ and $\gamma p \to \phi p$ including $\phi$-$\omega$ mixing. We compare our results for these reactions with the available data, especially those from HERA. Our coupling constants for the pomeron-odderon-$\phi$ vertex are taken from an analysis of the WA102 data for the $p p \to p p \phi$ reaction. We show that the odderon-exchange contribution significantly improves the description of the $pp$ azimuthal correlations and the $dP_{t}$ "glueball-filter variable" dependence of $\phi$ CEP measured by WA102. To describe the low-energy data more accurately we consider also subleading processes with reggeized vector-meson exchanges. However, they do not play a significant role at the LHC. We present predictions for two possible types of measurements: at midrapidity and with forward measurement of protons (relevant for ATLAS-ALFA or CMS-TOTEM), and at forward rapidities and without measurement of protons (relevant for LHCb). We discuss the influence of experimental cuts on the integrated cross sections and on various differential distributions. With the corresponding LHC data one should be able to get a decisive answer concerning the presence of an odderon-pomeron fusion contribution in single $\phi$ CEP.Comment: 63 pages, 34 figure