Origin of the Q 2-dependence of the DIS structure functions

We consider in detail Q ²-dependence of the DIS structure functions. Very often this dependence is claimed to be originated by the Q ²-dependence of the QCD coupling. This leads to the small-x asymptotics of the structure functions with Q ²-dependent intercepts. We demonstrate that the DGLAP parametrization α _s = α _s (Q ²) is an approximation valid in the region of large x (where 2pq can be approximated by Q ²) only, providing the factorization scale is also large. Outside this region, the DGLAP parametrization fails, so α _s should be replaced by an effective coupling which is independent of Q ² at small x. As a consequence, intercepts of the structure functions are independent of Q ² . Nevertheless, the small-x asymptotics of the structure functions explicitly depend on Q ² , even when the coupling does not depend on it. We also consider the structure functions at small Q ² and give a comment on power-Q ² corrections to the structure functions at large and small Q ² .