1 99 7 DESY 97 - 184 Measurement of the Diffractive Structure Function F D ( 4 ) 2 at HERA

This paper presents the first analysis of diffractive photon dissociation events in deep inelastic positron-proton scattering at HERA in which the proton in the final state is detected and its momentum measured. The events are selected by requiring a scattered proton in the ZEUS leading proton spectrometer (LPS) with xL > 0.97, where xL is the fraction of the incoming proton beam momentum carried by the scattered proton. The use of the LPS significantly reduces the contamination from events with diffractive dissociation of the proton into low mass states and allows a direct measurement of t, the square of the four-momentum exchanged at the proton vertex. The dependence of the cross section on t is measured in the interval 0.073 < |t| < 0.4 GeV2 and is found to be described by an exponential shape with the slope parameter b = 7.2± 1.1(stat.) −0.9(syst.) GeV−2. The diffractive structure function F D(4) 2 is presented as a function of xIP ≃ 1− xL and β, the momentum fraction of the struck quark with respect to x IP , and averaged over the t interval 0.073 < |t| < 0.4 GeV2 and the photon virtuality range 5 < Q2 < 20 GeV2. In the kinematic range 4×10−4 < x IP < 0.03 and 0.015 < β < 0.5, the x IP dependence of F D(4) 2 is fitted with a form (1/x IP ) , yielding a = 1.00 ± 0.09 (stat.) −0.05(syst.). Upon integration over t, the structure function F D(3) 2 is determined in a kinematic range extending to higher x IP and lower β compared to our previous analysis; the results are discussed within the framework of Regge theory. The ZEUS Collaboration J. Breitweg, M. Derrick, D. Krakauer, S. Magill, D. Mikunas, B. Musgrave, J. Repond, R. Stanek, R.L. Talaga, R. Yoshida, H. Zhang Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA p M.C.K. Mattingly Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI, USA F. Anselmo, P. Antonioli, G. Bari, M. Basile, L. Bellagamba, D. Boscherini, A. Bruni, G. Bruni, G. Cara Romeo, G. Castellini, M. Chiarini, L. Cifarelli, F. Cindolo, A. Contin, M. Corradi, S. De Pasquale, I. Gialas, P. Giusti, G. Iacobucci, G. Laurenti, G. Levi, A. Margotti, T. Massam, R. Nania, C. Nemoz, F. Palmonari, A. Pesci, A. Polini, F. Ricci, G. Sartorelli, Y. Zamora Garcia, A. Zichichi University and INFN Bologna, Bologna, Italy f C. Amelung, A. Bornheim, I. Brock, K. Coböken, J. Crittenden, R. Deffner, M. Eckert, M. Grothe, H. Hartmann, K. Heinloth, L. Heinz, E. Hilger, H.-P. Jakob, U.F. Katz, R. Kerger, E. Paul, M. Pfeiffer, Ch. Rembser, J. Stamm, R. Wedemeyer, H. Wieber Physikalisches Institut der Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany c D.S. Bailey, S. Campbell-Robson, W.N. Cottingham, B. Foster, R. Hall-Wilton, M.E. Hayes, G.P. Heath, H.F. Heath, J.D. McFall, D. Piccioni, D.G. Roff, R.J. Tapper H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, U.K. o M. Arneodo, R. Ayad, M. Capua, A. Garfagnini, L. Iannotti, M. Schioppa, G. Susinno Calabria University, Physics Dept.and INFN, Cosenza, Italy f J.Y. Kim, J.H. Lee, I.T. Lim, M.Y. Pac Chonnam National University, Kwangju, Korea h A. Caldwell, N. Cartiglia, Z. Jing, W. Liu, B. Mellado, J.A. Parsons, S. Ritz, S. Sampson, F. Sciulli, P.B. Straub, Q. Zhu Columbia University, Nevis Labs., Irvington on Hudson, N.Y., USA q P. Borzemski, J. Chwastowski, A. Eskreys, J. Figiel, K. Klimek, M.B. Przybycień, L. Zawiejski Inst. of Nuclear Physics, Cracow, Poland j L. Adamczyk, B. Bednarek, M. Bukowy, K. Jeleń, D. Kisielewska, T. Kowalski, M. Przybycień, E. Rulikowska-Zarȩbska, L. Suszycki, J. Zaja̧c Faculty of Physics and Nuclear Techniques, Academy of Mining and Metallurgy, Cracow, Poland j Z. Duliński, A. Kotański Jagellonian Univ., Dept. of Physics, Cracow, Poland k