Central exclusive diffractive production as a spin--parity analyser: from hadrons to Higgs

We present the general rules for double-Reggeon production of objects with different spins and parities. The existing experimental information on resonance production in these central exclusive diffractive processes is discussed. The absorptive corrections are calculated and found to depend strongly on the quantum numbers of the produced states. The central exclusive diffractive production of 0^+ and 0^- Higgs bosons is studied as an illustrative topical example of the use of the general rules. The signal for diffractive 0^+ and 0^- Higgs production at the LHC is evaluated using, as an example, the minimal supersymmetric model, with large tan(beta).