The Hadronic Final State at HERA
Paul Newman, Matthew Wing
TL;DR
Addresses how the hadronic final state in $ep$ collisions at HERA tests QCD across perturbative and non-perturbative regimes. Summarizes more than 200 publications from the H1 and ZEUS collaborations, focusing on short-distance processes that test perturbative QCD, constrain the proton structure, and enable precise determinations of $\alpha_s$, as well as investigations of hadronisation and diffraction. Reports searches for exotic QCD objects (pentaquarks, glueballs, instantons) and shows diffraction can be described within a perturbative QCD framework. Describes the detectors and reconstruction techniques used to study hadronic final states and distills the major achievements and their impact on our understanding of strong interactions.
Abstract
The hadronic final state in electron-proton collisions at HERA has provided a rich testing ground for development of the theory of the strong force, QCD. In this review, over 200 publications from the H1 and ZEUS Collaborations are summarised. Short distance physics, the measurement of processes at high energy scales, has provided rigorous tests of perturbative QCD and constrained the structure of the proton as well as allowing precise measurements of the strong coupling constant to be made. Non-perturbative or low energy processes have also been investigated and results on hadronisation interpreted together with those from other experiments. Searches for exotic QCD objects, such as pentaquarks, glueballs and instantons have been performed. The subject of diffraction has been re-invigorated through its precise measurement, such that it can now be described by perturbative QCD. After discussion of HERA, the H1 and ZEUS detectors and the techniques used to reconstruct differing hadronic final states, the above subject areas are elaborated. The major achievements are then condensed further in a final section summarising what has been learned.