Measurement of Leading Proton and Neutron Production in Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA

Deep--inelastic scattering events with a leading baryon have been detected by the H1 experiment at HERA using a forward proton spectrometer and a forward neutron calorimeter. Semi--inclusive cross sections have been measured in the kinematic region 2 <= Q^2 <= 50 GeV^2, 6.10^-5 <= x <= 6.10^-3 and baryon p_T <= MeV, for events with a final state proton with energy 580 <= E' <= 740 GeV, or a neutron with energy E' >= 160 GeV. The measurements are used to test production models and factorization hypotheses. A Regge model of leading baryon production which consists of pion, pomeron and secondary reggeon exchanges gives an acceptable description of both semi-inclusive cross sections in the region 0.7 <= E'/E_p <= 0.9, where E_p is the proton beam energy. The leading neutron data are used to estimate for the first time the structure function of the pion at small Bjorken--x.Comment: 30 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Eur. Phys.

Charmonium Production in Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA

The electroproduction of J/psi and psi(2S) mesons is studied in elastic, quasi-elastic and inclusive reactions for four momentum transfers 2 Q^2 80 GeV^2 and photon-proton centre of mass energies 25 W 180 GeV. The data were taken with the H1 detector at the electron proton collider HERA in the years 1995 to 1997. The total virtual photon-proton cross section for elastic J/psi production is measured as a function of Q^2 and W. The dependence of the production rates on the square of the momentum transfer from the proton (t) is extracted. Decay angular distributions are analysed and the ratio of the longitudinal and transverse cross sections is derived. The ratio of the cross sections for quasi-elastic psi(2S) and J/psi meson production is measured as a function of Q^2. The results are discussed in terms of theoretical models based upon perturbative QCD. Differential cross sections for inclusive and inelastic production of J/psi mesons are determined and predictions within two theoretical frameworks are compared with the data, the non-relativistic QCD factorization approach including colour octet and colour singlet contributions, and the model of Soft Colour Interactions

Measurement of d⋆^\star meson cross-sections at Hera and determination of the gluon density in the proton using NLO QCD

With the H1 detector at the ep collider HERA, D* meson production cross sections have been measured in deep inelastic scattering with four-momentum transfers Q^2>2 GeV2 and in photoproduction at energies around W(gamma p)~ 88 GeV and 194 GeV. Next-to-Leading Order QCD calculations are found to describe the differential cross sections within theoretical and experimental uncertainties. Using these calculations, the NLO gluon momentum distribution in the proton, x_g g(x_g), has been extracted in the momentum fraction range 7.5x10^{-4}< x_g <4x10^{-2} at average scales mu^2 =25 to 50 GeV2. The gluon momentum fraction x_g has been obtained from the measured kinematics of the scattered electron and the D* meson in the final state. The results compare well with the gluon distribution obtained from the analysis of scaling violations of the proton structure function F_2

Elastic electroproduction of rho mesons at HERA

The elastic electroproduction of rho mesons is studied at HERA with the H1 detector for a photon virtuality in the range 1 < Q^2 < 60 GeV^2 and for a hadronic centre of mass energy in the range 30 < W < 140 GeV. The shape of the pipi mass distribution in the rho resonance region is measured as a function of Q^2. The full set of rho spin density matrix elements is determined, and evidence is found for a helicity flip amplitude at the level of 8 +- 3 % of the non-flip amplitudes. Measurements are presented of the dependence of the cross section on Q^2, W and t (the four-momentum transfer squared to the proton). They suggest that, especially at large Q^2, the gamma^*p cross section develops a stronger W dependence than that expected from the behaviour of elastic and total hadron-hadron cross sections.Comment: 55 pages, 24 figures, 13 tables submitted to Eur. Phys. J

Measurement of Dijet Cross-Sections at Low Q2Q^{2} and the Extraction of an Effective Parton Density for the Virtual Photon

The triple-differential dijet cross-section, d^3 sigma_{ep}/dQ2 dE_t2 dxgjets, is measured with the H1 detector at HERA as a function of the photon virtuality Q^2, the fraction of the photon's momentum carried by the parton entering the hard scattering, xgjets, and the square of the mean transverse energy, E_t2, of the two highest E_t jets. Jets are found using a longitudinal boost-invariant k_T clustering algorithm in the gamma* p center of mass frame. The measurements cover the ranges 1.6 Q^2 80 GeV$^2 in virtuality and 0.1 y 0.7 in inelasticity y. The results are well described by leading order QCD models which include the effects of a resolved component to the virtual photon. Models which treat the photon as point-like fail to describe the data. An effective leading order parton density for the virtual photon is extracted as a function of the photon virtuality, the probing scale and the parton momentum fraction. The x_gamma and probing scale dependences of the parton density show characteristic features of photon structure, and a suppression of this structure with increasing Q^2 is seen

Measurement of dijet cross-sections at low Q**2 and the extraction of an effective parton density for the virtual photon

The triple-differential dijet cross-section, d^3 sigma_{ep}/dQ2 dE_t2 dxgjets, is measured with the H1 detector at HERA as a function of the photon virtuality Q^2, the fraction of the photon's momentum carried by the parton entering the hard scattering, xgjets, and the square of the mean transverse energy, E_t2, of the two highest E_t jets. Jets are found using a longitudinal boost-invariant k_T clustering algorithm in the gamma* p center of mass frame. The measurements cover the ranges 1.6 < Q^2 < 80 GeV$^2 in virtuality and 0.1 < y < 0.7 in inelasticity y. The results are well described by leading order QCD models which include the effects of a resolved component to the virtual photon. Models which treat the photon as point-like fail to describe the data. An effective leading order parton density for the virtual photon is extracted as a function of the photon virtuality, the probing scale and the parton momentum fraction. The x_gamma and probing scale dependences of the parton density show characteristic features of photon structure, and a suppression of this structure with increasing Q^2 is seen.Comment: 32 pages, 10 figures, 4 tables, submitted to Eur. Phys. J.