Measurements of diffractive processes at HERA

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent HERA data on diffractive electron-proton interactions, discussing whether diffraction is a soft or hard process across various phenomena like vector meson production and DVCS.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent experimental results on diffraction at HERA and discusses the soft versus hard nature of these processes.

Findings

Diffractive processes exhibit characteristics of both soft and hard interactions.

Experimental data supports the coexistence of soft and hard diffraction mechanisms.

Insights into the nature of diffraction in quantum chromodynamics are discussed.

Abstract

In this talk, the recent data on diffractive electron-proton interactions at HERA are reviewed. The question of diffraction as a soft or hard process is addressed and discussed in the context of inclusive diffraction, vector meson production and the DVCS process.