Measurement of the Proton Structure Function F_2 and \sigma_{tot}^{\gamma^* p} at Low Q^2 and Very Low x at HERA

A simple parametrisation of H1 and ZEUS data at HERA is given for the ranges in x and Q^2 of 10^{-4} - 5.10^{-2} and 5 - 250 GeV^2, respectively. This empirical expression is based on a strikingly similar dependence of the average charged particle multiplicity <n> on the centre of mass system energy sqrt{s} in e+e- collisions on the one hand, and the x dependence of the proton structure function F_2 as measured at small x on the other hand. To the best of our knowledge, this ...

New results from the H1 and ZEUS collaborations on the measurement of cross-sections at very high Q^2 (up to 25000 GeV^2) and on the proton structure function F_2(x,Q^2) for momentum transfers squared Q^2 >= 1.5 GeV^2 and Bjorken x >= 3.5 10^{-5} are reported, using data collected at HERA mainly in 1994. No deviations from the Standard Model have been observed at high Q^2 and F_2 is seen to increase significantly with decreasing x, even in the lowest reachable Q^2 region. Com...

Measurements of the proton structure function $F_2$ in the $Q^2$ range $0.6 - 17 \rm GeV^2$ from ZEUS 1995 shifted vertex data and $Q^2 \simeq 1.5 - 20000 \rm GeV^2$ from 1996 and 1997 ZEUS data are presented. From the former and other ZEUS $F_2$ data the slopes $d F_2 / d \ln Q^2$ at fixed $x$ and $d F_2 / d \ln(1/x)$ at fixed $Q^2$ are derived. $F_2$ data at $Q^2$ below $0.9 \rm GeV^2$ are described successfully by a combination of generalised vector meson dominance and Reg...

New precise measurements of the neutral current cross section at HERA are presented in different Q^2 regimes. In the photoproduction limit the total gamma-p cross section is found to be in agreement with the universal soft Pomeron prediction. At medium scales 1.5 < Q^2 < 150 GeV^2 both the F_2 and the F_L structure functions are determined. These data are well described by NLO pQCD. The gluon density in the proton has been extracted from the scaling violation of F_2 at low x....

A new measurement of the proton structure function $F_2(x,Q^2)$ is reported for momentum transfers squared $Q^2$ between 1.5 GeV$^2$ and 5000 GeV$^2$ and for Bjorken $x$ between $3\cdot 10^{-5}$ and 0.32 using data collected by the HERA experiment H1 in 1994. The data represent an increase in statistics by a factor of ten with respect to the analysis of the 1993 data. Substantial extension of the kinematic range towards low $Q^2$ and $x$ has been achieved using dedicated data...

The recent F$_2$ measurements at HERA are discussed in the framework of virtual photon--proton cross section. The energy behaviour of the cross section is studied for different $Q^2$ values, ranging from 0 to 1000 GeV$^2$ for center of mass energies $1.75 < W < 300$ GeV.

A first measurement is reported of the longitudinal proton structure function F_L(x,Q^2) at the ep collider HERA. It is based on inclusive deep inelastic e^+p scattering cross section measurements with a positron beam energy of 27.5 GeV and proton beam energies of 920, 575 and 460 GeV. Employing the energy dependence of the cross section, F_L is measured in a range of squared four-momentum transfers 12 < Q^2 < 90 GeV^2 and low Bjorken x 0.00024 < x < 0.0036. The F_L values ag...

The reduced cross sections for ep deep inelastic scattering have been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA at three different centre-of-mass energies, 318, 251 and 225 GeV. From the cross sections, measured double differentially in Bjorken x and the virtuality, Q^2, the proton structure functions FL and F2 have been extracted in the region 5*10^-4 < x <0.007 and 20 < Q^2 < 130 GeV^2.

The cross section and the proton structure function F2 for neutral current deep inelastic e+p scattering have been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 30 pb-1. The data were collected in 1996 and 1997 at a centre-of-mass energy of 300 GeV. They cover the kinematic range 2.7 < Q^2 < 30000 GeV2 and 6.10^-5 < x < 0.65. The variation of F2 with x and Q2 is well described by next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD as implemented in the DGLAP ev...

Neutral and charged current deep inelastic scattering cross sections and structure functions are presented. The review also discusses improvements to the parton density measurements using jet cross section data and recent high $Q^{2}$ inclusive cross section measurements. The projected parton density uncertainties using the entire HERA data set are also presented.