The colour dipole approach to small-x processes

We explain why it is possible to formulate a wide variety of high energy (small-x) photon-proton processes in terms of a universal dipole cross section and compare and contrast various parameterizations of this function that exist in the literature.Comment: 6 pages, latex, 2 figures. Contribution to Durham Collider Workshop (Sept 99) proceeding

Saturation Effects in Deep Inelastic Scattering at low Q2Q^2 and its Implications on Diffraction

We present a model based on the concept of saturation for small $Q^2$ and small $x$. With only three parameters we achieve a good description of all Deep Inelastic Scattering data below $x=0.01$. This includes a consistent treatment of charm and a successful extrapolation into the photoproduction regime. The same model leads to a roughly constant ratio of diffractive and inclusive cross section.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figures, Latex-fil

On the exciton binding energy in a quantum well

We consider a model describing the one-dimensional confinement of an exciton in a symmetrical, rectangular quantum-well structure and derive upper and lower bounds for the binding energy $E_b$ of the exciton. Based on these bounds, we study the dependence of $E_b$ on the width of the confining potential with a higher accuracy than previous reports. For an infinitely deep potential the binding energy varies as expected from $1 Ry$ at large widths to $4 Ry$ at small widths. For a finite potential, but without consideration of a mass mismatch or a dielectric mismatch, we substantiate earlier results that the binding energy approaches the value $1 Ry$ for both small and large widths, having a characteristic peak for some intermediate size of the slab. Taking the mismatch into account, this result will in general no longer be true. For the specific case of a $Ga_{1-x}Al_{x}As/GaAs/Ga_{1-x}Al_{x}As$ quantum-well structure, however, and in contrast to previous findings, the peak structure is shown to survive.Comment: 32 pages, ReVTeX, including 9 figure

Energy Dependence of the Contribution of Pion Exchange to Large-Rapidity-Gap Events in Deep Inelastic Scattering

We study the energy dependence of the contribution of pion exchange to large-rapidity-gap events in deep inelastic scattering. The results show that this contribution can be quite significant at low energy and that the LRG events observed by E665 collaboration in \mu Xe and \mu D interactions at 490 $GeV$ can be reasonably well described in terms of meson exchange. We also show that the distribution of the maximum rapidity for all hadrons is quite different from that for charged hadrons only and that the former exhibits also shoulder-like structure for events at 490 $GeV$ similar to that at HERA.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, Phys. Rev. D (in press

Soft Color Interactions and Diffractive Hard Scattering at the Fermilab Tevatron

An improved understanding of nonperturbative QCD can be obtained by the recently developed soft color interaction models. Their essence is the variation of color string-field topologies, giving a unified description of final states in high energy interactions, e.g., diffractive and nondiffractive events in ep and ppbar. Here we present a detailed study of such models (the soft color interaction model and the generalized area law model) applied to ppbar, considering also the general problem of the underlying event including beam particle remnants. With models tuned to HERA ep data, we find a good description also of Tevatron data on production of W, beauty and jets in diffractive events defined either by leading antiprotons or by one or two rapidity gaps in the forward or backward regions. We also give predictions for diffractive J/psi production where the soft exchange mechanism produces both a gap and a color singlet ccbar state in the same event. This soft color interaction approach is also compared with Pomeron-based models for diffraction, and some possibilities to experimentally discriminate between these different approaches are discussed.Comment: 35 pages, 15 figures, uses REVTeX. Minor changes, version to appear in Phys. Rev.

The QCD description of diffractive processes

We review the application of perturbative QCD to diffractive processes. We introduce the two gluon exchange model to describe diffractive qq(bar) and qq(bar)g production in deep inelastic scattering. We study the triple Regge limit and briefly consider multiple gluon exchange. We discuss diffractive vector meson production at HERA both at t = 0 and large |t|. We demonstrate the non-factorization of diffractive processes at hadron colliders.Comment: 39 pages, 14 figures, LaTeX, new references added and some discussion clarifie

The BFKL Pomeron in 2+1 Dimensional QCD

We investigate the high-energy scattering in the spontaneously broken Yang - Mills gauge theory in 2+1 space--time dimensions and present the exact solution of the leading $\ln s$ BFKL equation. The solution is constructed in terms of special functions using the earlier results of two of us (L.N.L. and L.S.). The analytic properties of the $t$-channel partial wave as functions of the angular momentum and momentum transfer have been studied. We find in the angular momentum plane: (i) a Regge pole whose trajectory has an intercept larger than 1 and (ii) a fixed cut with the rightmost singularity located at $j=1$. The massive Yang - Mills theory can be considered as a theoretical model for the (non-perturbative) Pomeron. We study the main structure and property of the solution including the Pomeron trajectory at momentum transfer different from zero. The relation to the results of M. Li and C-I. Tan for the massless case is discussed.Comment: 28 pages LATEX, 3 EPS figures include

Extracting the dipole cross-section from photo- and electro-production total cross-section data

We report on a successful attempt to extract the cross-section for the high-energy scattering of colour dipoles of fixed transverse size off protons using electroproduction and photoproduction total cross-section data, subject to the constraint provided by the ratio of the overall photon dissociation cross-section to the total cross-section.Comment: LaTeX2e, 29 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Phys Rev D. Because of error in parameter assignment, one parameter removed and tables of parameter fits and affected figs 2, 4-9 replaced. Error in figure caption corrected. Reference update

HERA Collider Physics

HERA, the first electron-proton collider, has been delivering luminosity since 1992. It is the natural extension of an impressive series of fixed-target lepton-nucleon scattering experiments. The increase of a factor ten in center-of-mass energy over that available for fixed-target experiments has allowed the discovery of several important results, such as the large number of slow partons in the proton, and the sizeable diffractive cross section at large $Q^2$. Recent data point to a possible deviation from Standard Model expectations at very high $Q^2$, highlighting the physics potential of HERA for new effects. The HERA program is currently in a transition period. The first six years of data taking have primarily elucidated the structure of the proton, allowed detailed QCD studies and had a strong impact on the understanding of QCD dynamics. The coming years will bring the era of electroweak studies and high $Q^2$ measurements. This is therefore an appropriate juncture at which to review HERA results.Comment: 351 pages, 154 figures, submitted to Reviews of Modern Physic