The TOTEM T2 detector at LHC: Track reconstruction algorithm and preliminary measurements

TOTEM is an experiment designed to perform total cross section, elastic scattering, and diffractive dissociation measurements at the LHC. It is made up of elastic detectors set in the tunnel (Roman Pots) and two inelastic telescopes: T1 and T2, located in the same cavern as the CMS experiment. The T2 telescope is placed at the very forward region of the CMS´s detector, in a high radioactive environment, as revealed by measurements performed using radiation sensors. The amount of particles produced in the interaction with material in front of and around the detector was found to be particularly challenging for both detector performances and physics analysis. The offline software developed for the reconstruction of inelastic events tracks is briefly described. Internal and general alignments of the telescopes have been another complex issue: the strategy to correct the misalignment biases are explained. A preliminary measurements of the forward charged particle η distribution performed by T2 is also presented.