Named after its implementation by the CERN-Rome collaboration in the early 1970s,[1][2] it is an important tool to measure the total cross section of two particle beams in a collider.
The first generation of Roman pots was purpose-built by the CERN Central Workshops and used in the measurement of the total cross-section of proton-proton inter-actions in the ISR.
[4][5][6] Roman pots are located as close to the beamline as possible, to capture the accelerated particles which scatter by very small angles.
The goal is to search for elastic scattering effects beyond the Standard Model, such as hypothetical "colorless gluons", as well confirming ideas of pomeron exchange, and the possible existence of an odderon.
The figure below shows a single Roman pot unit, located about 220 meters forward of the IP5 interaction point.