Future Precision Measurements of F 2 ( x , Q 2 ) , α S ( Q 2 ) and xg ( x , Q 2 ) at HERA

The results are presented of a study of the accuracy one may achieve at HERA in measuring the strong coupling constant αs and the gluon distribution xg(x,Q ) using future data of the structure function F2(x,Q ) which are estimated to be accurate at the few % level over the full accessible kinematic region down to x ≃ 10 and up to Q ≃ 50000 GeV. The analysis includes simulated proton and deuteron data, and the effect of combining HERA data with fixed target data is discussed. To appear in the proceedings of the workshop “Future Physics at HERA”, DESY, Hamburg, 1996. Future Precision Measurements of F2(x,Q ), αS(Q ) and xg(x,Q) at HERA M. Botje, M. Klein, C. Pascaud a NIKHEF PO Box 41882, NL-1009 DB Amsterdam, Netherlands b DESY-IfH Zeuthen, Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany c Universite de Paris Sud, LPTHE, F-91405 Orsay, France Abstract: The results are presented of a study of the accuracy one may achieve at HERA in measuring the strong coupling constant αs and the gluon distribution xg(x,Q) using future data of the structure function F2(x,Q ) which are estimated to be accurate at the few % level over the full accessible kinematic region down to x ≃ 10 and up to Q ≃ 50000 GeV. The analysis includes simulated proton and deuteron data, and the effect of combining HERA data with fixed target data is discussed. The results are presented of a study of the accuracy one may achieve at HERA in measuring the strong coupling constant αs and the gluon distribution xg(x,Q) using future data of the structure function F2(x,Q ) which are estimated to be accurate at the few % level over the full accessible kinematic region down to x ≃ 10 and up to Q ≃ 50000 GeV. The analysis includes simulated proton and deuteron data, and the effect of combining HERA data with fixed target data is discussed.