In pursuit of QCD instantons: acceptance studies for the ATLAS Roman Pot detector system at the LHC

Instantons are predicted within the standard model as mediators of quantum tunneling process in the Yang-Mills theory. Currently detecting them proves extremely difficult, as they are indistinguishable from other background soft QCD events. This report takes a look at forward detectors, specifically ATLAS Roman Pots, and their potential to alleviate this problem, with an emphasis on using local bumps in the standard accelerator optics to create a sufficient acceptance. Finding that local bumps have the potential to increase the accept- ance in $\xi$ for the AFP by about 60 bins. ALFA detector is discussed as the strongest candidate when looking at acceptance. We also briefly touch on the topic of potential future optics at the LHC and how this might affect these for- ward detectors, while suggesting a solution that could potentially be acceptable for all parties.