Measurement of the proton structure function F 2 at low x and low Q 2 at HERA

We report on a measurement of the proton structure functionF ₂ in the range 3.5×10⁻⁵≤x≤4×10⁻³ and 1.5 GeV²≤Q ²≤15GeV² at theep collider HERA operating at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=300GeV. The rise ofF ₂ with decreasingx observed in the previous HERA measurements persists in this lowerx andQ ² range. TheQ ² evolution ofF ₂, even at the lowestQ ² andx measured, is consistent with perturbative QCD. supported by EU HCM contract ERB-CHRX-CT93-0376     

A measurement of the proton structure function F2(x,Q2)

A measurement of the proton structure function F₂(x, Q²) is reported for momentum transfers squared Q² between 4.5 GeV² and 1600 GeV² and for Bjorken x between 1.8 × 10⁻¹⁴ and 0.13 using data collected by the HERA experiment H1 in 1993. It is observed that F₂ increases significantly with decreasing x, confirming our previous measurement made with one tenth of the data available in this analysis. The Q² dependence is approximately logarithmic over the full kinematic range covered. The subsample of deep inelastic events with a large pseudo-rapidity gap in the hadronic energy flow close to the proton remnant is used to measure the “diffractive” contribution to F₂.     

On the possibility of measuringF L (x,Q 2) at HERA using radiative events

It is shown that a significant measurement of the longitudinal structure functionF _L (x, Q ²) can be performed at HERA, forQ ²=2 GeV² andQ ²=5 GeV² and forx around 10^?4, using radiative events with hard photon emission collinear to the incident lepton beam, under the present running conditions and with an integrated luminosity of 10 pb^?1. The influence of experimental conditions is discussed.     

Measurement of elastic J/ψ photoproduction at HERA

The reaction γ p → J/ψ p has been studied in ep interactions using the ZEUS detector at HERA. The cross section for elastic J/ψ photoproduction has been measured as a function of the photon-proton centre of mass energy W in the range 40 < W < 140 GeV at a median photon virtuality Q ² of 5 × 10^?5 GeV². The photoproduction cross section, σ_{γp→ J/ψp}, is observed to rise steeply with W. A fit to the data presented in this paper to determine the parameter δ in the form σ_{γp→ J/ψp} α W ^δ yields the value δ = 0.92±0.14±0.10. The differential cross section dσ/d ¦t¦is presented over the range ¦t¦< 1.0 GeV² where t is the square of the four-momentum exchanged at the proton vertex. dσ/d ¦t¦falls exponentially with a slope parameter of $4.6pm 0.4_{-0.6}^{+0.4} {? GeV}^{-2}$. The measured decay angular distributions are consistent with s-channel helicity conservation.     

F 2 c at low x

We study the heavy-quark contributions to the proton structure function F ₂(x,Q ²) at next-to-leading order using compact formulas at small values of Bjorken??s x variable. The formulas provide a good agreement with the modern HERA data for F ₂ ^c (x,Q ²).     

Photon-gluon fusion at HERA: measurement of the fractional momentum of the gluon in lowQ 2 events

We have performed a Monte Carlo study of photon-gluon interactions at theep collider HERA. We show that it is possible to determine the fractional momentum carried by the gluon (x _g) from hadronic informations alone. In particular, in the photoproduction region, where thex andQ ² are badly measured, this could be the only global physical variable of interest, together with the hadronic invariant mass. The study of these quantities would allow a direct measurement of the gluon density of the proton in the rangex _g=2.5×10^?3∶5×10^?1.     

Possible parametrization of parton distributions incorporating singular smallx behaviour implied by QCD and its phenomenological implications for HERA

The gluon and quark distributions of the nucleon are evaluated using the Altarelli-Parisi equations with the input distributions atQ ₀ ² =5 GeV² for seaquarks and gluons modified by the factor (ax ^?0.5+b). The new parametrization is constrained to satisfy the momentum sum rule and after backward evolution (fromQ ₀ ² =5 GeV² toQ ²=1 GeV²) it is also constrained to give approximately 1/x behaviour of the sea-quark and gluon distributions in the limited region of smallx (10^?3<x<10^?2 or so). The theoretical predictions relevant for HERA for structure functionsF ₂(x, Q ²) andF _L (x, Q ²) in the region of very smallx(10^?4<x<10^?2) and largeQ ² and for the cross-sectionσ(γ^* p→ΨX) are presented. Distributions of heavy quarks (c,b,t) are also discussed.     

Inelastic electron scattering from protons and deuterons at very low Q2

The total cross-section for production of hadrons by inelastic electron scattering at 3.2° from hydrogen and deuterium has been measured in the Q² range 0.015 GeV² to 0.1 GeV², at virtual photon energies ranging from 2 GeV to 8.5 GeV. The transition to photoproduction is observed to be smooth, the ratio σ_D/σ_H being about 1.85 in this range. No evidence is seen for a conjectured rapid Q²-dependence of this ratio at low Q².     

Measurement of the proton structure functionF2 from the 1993 HERA data

The ZEUS detector has been used to measure the proton structure functionF ₂. During 1993 HERA collided 26.7 GeV electrons on 820 GeV protons. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 0.54 pb^–1, representing a twenty fold increase in statistics compared to that of 1992. Results are presented for 7Q ²<>⁴ GeV² andx values as low as 3×10^–4. The rapid rise inF ₂ asx decreases observed previously is now studied in greater detail and persists forQ ² values up to 500 GeV².supported by Worldlab, Lausanne, Switzerland     

Measurement of D*+- diffractive cross sections in photoproduction at HERA

The first measurement of the cross sections for D*^±-meson diffractive photoproduction was performed with the ZEUS detector at the HERA ep collider by using an integrated luminosity of 38 pb^?1. The measurement was performed for photon-proton c.m. energies in the range 130<W<280 GeV and photon virtualities in the region Q ²<1 GeV². The product D*^± mesons were reconstructed for p _T ^D* >2 GeV and ?1.5<η ^D*<1.5 from the decay channel D*⁺ → D ⁰ π _s ⁺ with D ⁰ → K ^? π ⁺ (+ c.c.). The diffractive component was selected for 0.001 <x _P<0.018. The measured cross section in this kinematical range is $\sigma _{ep \to e'D^ * X_{p'} }^{diff} = 0.74 \pm 0.21(stat.)_{ - 0.18}^{ + 0.27} (syst.) \pm 0.16(p.diss.)$ nb (ZEUS preliminary). The measured integrated and differential cross sections are compared with theoretical expectations.     

Measurement of the longitudinal structure function and the smallx gluon density of the proton

At HERA energies the smallx region (x?10^?2) can be explored atQ ² values large enough that leading twist QCD calculations are valid. We show how measurement of the longitudinal structure function,F _L (x,Q ²), can lead to accurate measurement of the gluon structure function at such smallx values. Experimental systematic errors are discussed fully and requirements for the measurement outlined. We conclude that it should be possible to distinguish between the widely varying gluon distributions which are currently allowed.     

Constraints on gluon evolution at smallx

The BFKL and the unified angular-ordered equations are solved to determine the gluon distribution at smallx. The impact of kinematic constraints is investigated. Predictions are made for observables sensitive to the gluon at smallx. In particular comparison is made with measurements at the HERA electron-proton collider of the proton structure functionF ₂(x, Q ²) as a function of lnQ ², the charm componentF _c ² (X, Q ²) and diffractiveJ/Ψ photoproduction.     

Constraints on gluon evolution at smallx

The BFKL and the unified angular-ordered equations are solved to determine the gluon distribution at smallx. The impact of kinematic constraints is investigated. Predictions are made for observables sensitive to the gluon at smallx. In particular comparison is made with measurements at the HERA electron-proton collider of the proton structure functionF ₂(x, Q ²) as a function of lnQ ², the charm componentF _c ² (X, Q ²) and diffractiveJ/?? photoproduction.     

A model for FL and R = FL/FT at low x and low Q2

A model for the longitudinal structure function F_L at low x and low Q² is presented, which includes the kinematical constraint F_L ～ Q⁴ as Q² → 0. It is based on the photon-gluon fusion mechanism suitably extrapolated to the region of low Q². The contribution of quarks having limited transverse momentum is treated phenomenologically assuming that it is described by the soft pomeron exchange mechanism. The ratio R = F_L/(F₂ ? F_L), with the F₂ appropriately extrapolated to the region of low Q², is also discussed.     

Measurement of the structure functionsF 2 andxF 3 and comparison with QCD predictions including kinematical and dynamical higher twist effects

The isoscalar nucleon structure functionsF ₂(x, Q ²) andxF ₃(x, Q ²) are measured in the range 0<Q ²<64 GeV², 1.7<W ²<250 GeV²,x<0.7 using ν and \(\bar v\) interactions on neon in BEBC. The data are used to evaluate possible higher twist contributions and to determine their impact on the evaluation of the QCD parameter Λ. In contrast to previous analyses reaching to such lowW ² values, it is found that a low \(\Lambda _{\overline {MS} } \) value in the neighbourhood of 100 MeV describes the data adequately and that the contribution of dynamical higher twist effects is small and negative.     

Diffractive deep-inelastic scattering with a leading proton at HERA

The cross section for the diffractive deep-inelastic scattering process ep→eXp is measured, with the leading final state proton detected in the H1 Forward Proton Spectrometer. The data analysed cover the range x_IP<0.1 in fractional proton longitudinal momentum loss, 0.08<|t|<0.5 GeV^-2 in squared four-momentum transfer at the proton vertex, 2<Q²<50 GeV² in photon virtuality and 0.004<β=x/x_IP<1, where x is the Bjorken scaling variable. For , the differential cross section has a dependence of approximately dσ/dt∝e^6t, independently of x_IP, β and Q² within uncertainties. The cross section is also measured triple differentially in x_IP, β and Q². The x_IP dependence is interpreted in terms of an effective pomeron trajectory with intercept α_IP(0)=1.114±0.018(stat.)±0.012(syst.)^+0.040 _-0.020(model) and a sub-leading exchange. The data are in good agreement with an H1 measurement for which the event selection is based on a large gap in the rapidity distribution of the final state hadrons, after accounting for proton dissociation contributions in the latter. Within uncertainties, the dependence of the cross section on x and Q² can thus be factorised from the dependences on all studied variables which characterise the proton vertex, for both the pomeron and the sub-leading exchange.