A Measurement and QCD Analysis of the Proton Structure Function $F_2(x,Q^2)$ at HERA

S. Aid; H1 Collaboration

Paper

A Measurement and QCD Analysis of the Proton Structure Function $F_2(x,Q^2)$ at HERA

Abstract

A new measurement of the proton structure function

is reported for momentum transfers squared

between 1.5 GeV

and 5000 GeV

and for Bjorken

between

and 0.32 using data collected by the HERA experiment H1 in 1994. The data represent an increase in statistics by a factor of ten with respect to the analysis of the 1993 data. Substantial extension of the kinematic range towards low

and

has been achieved using dedicated data samples and events with initial state photon radiation. The structure function is found to increase significantly with decreasing

, even in the lowest accessible

region. The data are well described by a Next to Leading Order QCD fit and the gluon density is extracted.