The LHCf experiment: recent physics results

The main aim of the LHCf experiment is to provide precise measurements of the production spectra relative to neutral particles produced in the very forward region by high energy proton-proton and proton-ion collisions. This information is necessary in order to test and tune hadronic interaction models used by ground-based cosmic rays experiments. In order to reach this goal, LHCf makes use of two small sampling calorimeters installed in the LHC tunnel at $\pm 140$ m from IP1, able to detect neutral particles having pseudo-rapidity $\eta > 8.4$. After the operations relative to p-p collisions at $\mathrm{\sqrt{s} = 13~TeV}$, the collaboration focused the activity on the study of forward photons and neutrons production at this energy. In this paper, we discuss the recent results relative to the photons analysis, regarding, in particular, the inclusive production cross section, the role of diffractive and non-diffractive processes in forward photons production (investigated thanks to the LHCf-ATLAS joint analysis) and the forward differential energy flow