Detecting the creation of top quarks out of light

The CMS and TOTEM collaborations at CERN's LHC accelerator have jointly announced the result of the first research into the unique central production of top-antitop quark pairs in proton collisions. In this process, protons in the LHC beams interact without disintegrating and lose some of their energy by emitting photons that can then result in the creation of top-antitop pairs. The measurement uses the new precision proton spectrometer.

Researchers from the INFN-Genoa section and DIFI have made an important contribution to the result.

An end on view of the LHC tunnel in the region where the CT-PPS detectors are installed
An end on view of the LHC tunnel in the region where the CT-PPS detectors are installed