Professor Amanda Cooper-Sarkar

Abstract:

The cross section and the proton structure function F2 for neutral current deep inelastic e+p scattering have been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 30 pb-1. The data were collected in 1996 and 1997 at a centre-of-mass energy of 300 GeV. They cover the kinematic range 2.7 < Q2 < 30000 GeV2 and 6-10-5 < cursive Greek chi < 0.65. The variation of F2 with cursive Greek chi and Q2 is well described by next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD as implemented in the DGLAP evolution equations.

Abstract:

The photoproduction of prompt photons, together with an accompanying jet, has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 38.6 pb-1. A study of the effective transverse momentum, (kT), of partons in the proton, as modelled within the framework of the PYTHIA Monte Carlo, gives a value of (kT) = 1.69 ± 0.18 -0.20+0.18 GeV for the γp centre-of-mass energy range 134 < W < 251 GeV. This result is in agreement with the previously observed trend in hadron-hadron scattering for (kT) to rise with interaction energy. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.

Abstract:

Multiplicity moments of charged particles in deep inelastic e+p scattering have been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 38.4 pb-1. The moments for Q2 > 1000 GeV2 were studied in the current region of the Breit frame. The evolution of the moments was investigated as a function of restricted regions in polar angle and, for the first time, both in the transverse momentum and in absolute momentum of final-state particles. Analytic perturbative QCD predictions in conjunction with the hypothesis of Local Parton-Hadron Duality (LPHD) reproduce the trends of the moments in polar-angle regions, although some discrepancies are observed. For the moments restricted either in transverse or absolute momentum, the analytic results combined with the LPHD hypothesis show considerable deviations from the measurements. The study indicates a large influence of the hadronisation stage on the multiplicity distributions in the restricted phase-space regions studied here, which is inconsistent with the expectations of the LPHD hypothesis. © 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Abstract:

Dijet production has been studied in neutral current deep inelastic e⁺p scattering for 470 < Q² < 20000 GeV² with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 38.4 pb^-1. Dijet differential cross sections are presented in a kinematic region where both theoretical and experimental uncertainties are small. Next-to-leading-order (NLO) QCD calculations describe the measured differential cross sections well. A QCD analysis of the measured dijet fraction as a function of Q² allows both a precise determination of αs(Mz) and a test of the energy-scale dependence of the strong coupling constant. A detailed analysis provides an improved estimate of the uncertainties of the NLO QCD cross sections arising from the paxton distribution functions of the proton. The value of αs(Mz), as determined from the QCD fit, is αs (MZ) = 0.1166 ± 0.0019(stat.)^+0.0024 -0.0044 (exp.) ^+0.0057 0.0044(th.). © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.