Measurement of the proton structure function F(x,Q) at low x
Abstract
A first measurement is reported of the longitudinal proton structure function F(x,Q) at the ep collider HERA. It is based on inclusive deep inelastic ep 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 is measured in a range of squared four-momentum transfers 12⩽Q⩽90 GeV and low Bjorken x0.00024⩽x⩽0.0036. The F values agree with higher order QCD calculations based on parton densities obtained using cross section data previously measured at HERA.
- Publication:
-
Physics Letters B
- Pub Date:
- July 2008
- DOI:
- 10.1016/j.physletb.2008.05.070
- arXiv:
- arXiv:0805.2809
- Bibcode:
- 2008PhLB..665..139H
- Keywords:
-
- High Energy Physics - Experiment
- E-Print:
- 16 pages, 6 figures, version accepted for publication in PLB, minor text changes