Diffraction at TOTEM

The TOTEM experiment at the LHC is devoted to a deeper understanding of the pro- ton structure with the main goal being a precise measurement of the total proton-proton cross-section at LHC energies. In addition, TOTEM will measure elastic scattering over a wide |t|-range and perform comprehensive studies of diffractive processes and forward event topologies in inelastic proton-proton collisions. This article reviews the status of the experi- ment as well as the expected physics, especially in terms of diffraction, from the data taken in 2010 and to be taken in 2011, both in standard LHC and special dedicated TOTEM runs.