Abstract.
A precise measurement of the inclusive deep-inelastic \(e^+ p\) scattering cross section is reported in the kinematic range \(1.5 \le Q^2 \le 150\) GeV\(^2\) and \( 3 \cdot 10^{-5} \le x \le 0.2\). The data were recorded with the H1 detector at HERA in 1996 and 1997, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 20 pb\(^{-1}\). The double differential cross section, from which the proton structure function F_2(x,Q^2) and the longitudinal structure function \(F_L(x,Q^2)\) are extracted, is measured with typically 1% statistical and 3% systematic uncertainties. The measured derivative \((\partial F_2(x,Q^2) / \partial \ln Q^2)_x \) is observed to rise continuously towards small x for fixed \(Q^2\). The cross section data are combined with published H1 measurements at high \(Q^2\) for a next-to-leading order DGLAP QCD analysis. The H1 data determine the gluon momentum distribution in the range \(3 \cdot 10^{-4} \le x \le 0.1\) to within an experimental accuracy of about 3% for \(Q^2 =20\) GeV\(^2\). A fit of the H1 measurements and the \(\mu p \) data of the BCDMS collaboration allows the strong coupling constant \(\alpha_s\) and the gluon distribution to be simultaneously determined. A value of \(\alpha_s (M_Z^2) =0.1150 \pm 0.0017 (exp)^{+0.0009}_{-0.0005} (model)\) is obtained in NLO, with an additional theoretical uncertainty of about \(\pm 0.005\), mainly due to the uncertainty of the renormalisation scale.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Consortia
Additional information
Received: 21 December 2000 / Revised version: 10 May 2001 / Published online: 6 July 2001
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Adloff et al., C., The H1 Collaboration. Deep-inelastic inclusive ep scattering at low x and a determination of \(\alpha_s\) . Eur. Phys. J. C 21, 33–61 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s100520100720
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s100520100720