Professor Amanda Cooper-Sarkar

Abstract:

The exclusive production of ρ{variant}0mesons in deep inelastic electron-proton scattering has been studied using the ZEUS detector. Cross sections have been measured in the range 7 < Q2< 25 GeV2for λ*p centre of mass (c.m.) energies 40 to 130 GeV. The λ*p → ρ{variant}0p cross section exhibits a Q-(4.2±0.8-0.5+1.4)dependence and both longitudinally and transversely polarised ρ{variant}0's are observed. The λ*p → ρ{variant}0p cross section rises strongly with increasing c.m. energy, when compared with NMC data at lower energy, which cannot be explained by production through soft pomeron exchange. The data are compared with perturbative QCD calculations where the rise in the cross section reflects the increase in the gluon density at low x. © 1995.

Abstract:

Inclusive jet cross sections for events with a large rapidity gap with respect to the proton direction from the reaction ep → jet + X with quasi-real photons have been measured with the ZEUS detector. The cross sections refer to jets with transverse energies ETjet> 8 GeV. The data show the characteristics of a diffractive process mediated by pomeron exchange. Assuming that the events are due to the exchange of a pomeron with partonic structure, the quark and gluon content of the pomeron is probed at a scale ∼ (ETjet)2. A comparison of the measurements with model predictions based on QCD plus Regge phenomenology requires a contribution of partons with a hard momentum density in the pomeron. A combined analysis of the jet cross sections and recent ZEUS measurements of the diffractive structure function in deep inelastic scattering gives the first experimental evidence for the gluon content of the pomeron in diffractive hard scattering processes. The data indicate that between 30% and 80% of the momentum of the pomeron carried by partons is due to hard gluons. © 1995.