Phenomenological description of the gamma* p cross section at low Q2

Low Q2 photon-proton cross sections are analysed using a simple, QCD-motivated parametrisation $\sigma_{\gamma^\star p}\propto 1/(Q^2+Q_0^2)$, which gives a good description of the data. The Q2 dependence of the gamma* p cross section is discussed in terms of the partonic transverse momenta of the hadronic state the photon fluctuates into.Comment: 14 pages, revtex, epsfig, 2 figure

Soft Photoproduction Physics

Several topics of interest in soft photoproduction physics are discussed. These include jet universality issues (particle flavour composition), the subdivision into event classes, the buildup of the total photoproduction cross section and the effects of multiple interactions.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX2e, no figures, to appear in the proceedings of the Durham Workshop on HERA Physics, ``Proton, Photon and Pomeron Structure'', 17--23 September 1995, Durham, U.

Diffractive Phenomena and Shadowing in Deep-Inelastic Scattering

Shadowing effects in deep-inelastic lepton-nucleus scattering probe the mass spectrum of diffractive leptoproduction from individual nucleons. We explore this relationship using current experimental information on both processes. In recent data from the NMC and E665 collaboration, taken at small x << 0.1 and Q^2 < 1 GeV^2, shadowing is dominated by the diffractive excitation and coherent interaction of low mass vector mesons. If shadowing is explored at small x > 1 GeV^2 as discussed at HERA, the situation is different. Here dominant contributions come from the coherent interaction of diffractively produced heavy mass states. Furthermore we observe that the energy dependence of shadowing is directly related to the mass dependence of the diffractive production cross section for free nucleon targets.Comment: 12 pages Latex, 8 figure

Search for TeV Strings and New Phenomena in Bhabha Scattering at LEP2

A combined analysis of the data on Bhabha scattering at centre-of-mass energies 183 and 189 GeV from the LEP experiments ALEPH, L3 and OPAL is performed to search for effects of TeV strings in quantum gravity models with large extra dimensions. No statistically significant deviations from the Standard Model expectations are observed and lower limit on the string scale M_S = 0.631 TeV at 95 % confidence level is derived. The data are used to set lower limits on the scale of contact interactions ranging from 4.2 to 16.2 TeV depending on the model. In a complementary analysis we derive an upper limit on the electron size of 2.8 x 10^{-19} m at 95 % confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, 1 table, 3 figure

Forward Jet Production at small x in Next-to-Leading Order QCD

The production of forward jets of transverse energy E_T\simeq Q and large momentum fraction x_jet >> x is calculated in next-to-leading order including consistently direct and resolved virtual photon contributions. The predictions are compared to recent ZEUS and H1 data. Good agreement with the data is found.Comment: 11 pages, 3 eps figues; text in 2.1 clearified, figure 2 slightly changed; version to appear in Phys. Lett.

Interference in Exclusive Vector Meson Production in Heavy Ion Collisions

Photons emitted from the electromagnetic fields of relativistic heavy ions can fluctuate into quark anti-quark pairs and scatter from a target nucleus, emerging as vector mesons. These coherent interactions are identifiable by final states consisting of the two nuclei and a vector meson with a small transverse momentum. The emitters and targets can switch roles, and the two possibilities are indistinguishable, so interference may occur. Vector mesons are negative parity so the amplitudes have opposite signs. When the meson transverse wavelength is larger than the impact parameter, the interference is large and destructive. The short-lived vector mesons decay before amplitudes from the two sources can overlap, and so cannot interfere directly. However, the decay products are emitted in an entangled state, and the interference depends on observing the complete final state. The non-local wave function is an example of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox.Comment: 13 pages with 3 figures; submitted to Physical Review Letter

Photon Total Cross-sections

We discuss present predictions for the total $\gamma \gamma$ and $\gamma p$ cross-sections, highlighting why predictions differ. We present results from the Eikonal Minijet Model and improved predictions based on soft gluon resummation.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figures, LaTeX, requires espcrc2.sty, Talk presented by G. Pancheri at PHOTON-2003, International Meeting on Structure and Interactions of the Photon, Frascati, Italy, April 7-11, 200

Events with Isolated Charged Leptons and Large Missing Transverse Momentum at HERA

Striking events with isolated charged leptons, large missing transverse momentum and large transverse momentum of the hadronic final state were observed at the electron proton collider HERA in a data sample corresponding to a luminosity of about 130 pb-1. The H1 collaboration observed 11 events with isolated electrons or muons and with transverse momentum above 25 GeV. Only 3.4+-0.6 events were expected from Standard Model (SM) processes. Six of these events have a transverse momentum of greater than 40 GeV, while 1.3+-0.3 events were expected. The ZEUS collaboration observed good agreement with the SM. However, ZEUS found two events with a similar event topology, but tau leptons instead of electrons or muons in the final state. Only 0.2+-0.05 events were expected from SM processes. For various hypotheses the compatibility of the experimental results was investigated with respect to the SM and with respect to possible explanations beyond the SM. Prospects for the high-luminosity HERA-II data taking period are given

Pursuing interpretations of the HERA large-Q2 data

We explore interpretations of the anomaly observed by H1 and ZEUS at HERA in deep-inelastic e^+ p scattering at very large Q^2. We discuss the possibilities of new effective interactions and the production of a narrow state of mass 200 GeV with leptoquark couplings. We compare these models with the measured Q^2 distributions: for the contact terms, constraints from LEP2 and the Tevatron allow only a few choices of helicity and flavour structure that could roughly fit the HERA data. The data are instead quite consistent with the Q^2 distribution expected from a leptoquark state. We study the production cross sections of such a particle at the Tevatron and at HERA. The absence of a signal at the Tevatron disfavours the likelihood that any such leptoquark decays only into e^+ q. We then focus on the possibility that the leptoquark is a squark with R-violating couplings. In view of the present experimental limits on such couplings, the most likely production channels are e^+d -> scharm_L or perhaps e^+d->stop, with e^+s->stop a more marginal possibility. Possible tests of our preferred model include the absence both of analogous events in e^- p collisions and of charged current events, and the presence of detectable cascade decays whose kinematical signatures we discuss. We also discuss the possible implications for K->pi nu nubar, neutrinoless double-beta decay, the Tevatron and for e^+ e^- ->q qbar and neutralinos at LEP2.Comment: 28 pages, Latex, epsfig, 8 figures. Note added on contact term

Q^2 dependence of diffractive vector meson electroproduction

We give a general formula for the cross section for diffractive vector meson electroproduction, gamma^* p -> Vp. We first calculate diffractive qqbar production, and then use parton-hadron duality by projecting out the J^P = 1^- state in the appropriate mass interval. We compare the Q^2 dependence of the cross section for the diffractive production of rho and J/psi mesons with recent HERA data. We include the characteristic Q^2 dependence associated with the use of the skewed gluon distribution. We give predictions for sigma_L/sigma_T for both rho and J/psi production.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX, including five PostScript figure