Forward proton physics at LHC

Abstract

Diffractive phenomena constitute a large fraction of interactions occurring in pp collisions at LHC. Because of the non-perturbative nature, their present understanding is still relatively poor and uncertain. One of the methods to study these processes is forward proton tagging. I will discuss the mechanism of diffractive processes, recent results, and potential implications. The proton tagging method can also be used for measurements of photon-induced processes, in particular, the photon-photon interactions. I will present the physics behind these processes, the experimental status and the lessons we can learn for the strong interactions and for the electroweak sector.