Upgrade of the Data Acquisition System of the TOTEM experiment

The TOTEM experiment is one of the smallest at the LHC, but it uses innovative detectors to explore physics
that is largely beyond the reach of its giant siblings. While most of the LHC experiments are on a grand scale,
the subdetectors of the TOTEM are not longer than 3 m, although they extend over more than 440 m.

In addition to the precise measurement of the proton-proton interaction cross-section, TOTEM’s physics
programme focuses on the in-depth study of the proton’s structure by looking at elastic scattering over a large
range of momentum transfer. To do this, TOTEM must be able to detect particles produced very close to the
LHC beams. It includes detectors housed near the collision point of the CMS experiment. Although the two
experiments are scientifically independent, TOTEM will complement the results obtained by the CMS detector
and by the other LHC experiments overall.

The data acquisition in forward region involves the high data throughput. Since the current system does not satisfy bandwidth requirements, it necessitates an upgrade. The talk addresses the ongoing work in that field.