Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA

TL;DR

This paper reviews HERA deep inelastic scattering results, highlighting the steep rise in structure functions, insights into proton structure, and potential deviations from the Standard Model at high energies.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of experimental findings on proton structure and explores new phenomena in the space-like region at HERA.

Findings

Steep increase in F_2 structure function and gluon density

Emerging data on diffraction's partonic structure

Possible excess of high x and Q^2 events over Standard Model predictions

Abstract

Results from the H1 and ZEUS experiments at HERA on deep inelastic scattering are reviewed. The data lead to a consistent picture of a steep rise in the F_2 structure function and in the gluon density within the proton. Important new information on the partonic structure of diffraction is emerging from H1 and ZEUS. The space-like region in which the weak and electromagnetic interactions become of equal strength is being explored for the first time. A possible excess of events at high x and Q^2 compared to the expectations of the Standard Model has been observed in both experiments.