Eur. Phys. J. C (2016) 76: 255
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-016-4100-2

Regular Article - Theoretical Physics

The photon PDF in events with rapidity gaps

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, WC1E 6BT, London, UK
² Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
³ Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, NRC Kurchatov Institute, Gatchina, St. Petersburg, 188300, Moscow, Russia

^* e-mail: l.harland-lang@ucl.ac.uk

Received: 10 February 2016
Accepted: 18 April 2016
Published online: 4 May 2016

Abstract

We consider photon-initiated events with large rapidity gaps in proton–proton collisions, where one or both protons may break up. We formulate a modified photon PDF that accounts for the specific experimental rapidity gap veto, and demonstrate how the soft survival probability for these gaps may be implemented consistently. Finally, we present some phenomenological results for the two-photon induced production of lepton and W boson pairs.